WALES

Economic Stability and Business Growth

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Minister on economic stability and business growth in Wales.

Paul Murphy: I have regular discussions with the First Minister on the economy. Working in close partnership, the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly Government are doing all we can to help Welsh businesses and households through the financial difficulties they may face.

Promoting Welsh Food

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will hold discussions with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on policies to promote Welsh food in England; and if he will make a statement.

Wayne David: My right hon. Friend and I hold regular meetings with Assembly Ministers on a wide range of issues, including food promotion.
	The Welsh Assembly Government already have a number of successful initiatives promoting the best of Welsh food in the UK and abroad.

2012 Olympics

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Minister on Wales's contribution to the 2012 Olympics.

Wayne David: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets with the First Minister regularly discussing a wide range of issues, including the Olympics and Wales' large potential contribution to its success.

Welfare Reform

Albert Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on co-operation between the Department for Work and Pensions and the Welsh Assembly Government on welfare reform projects in Wales.

Wayne David: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on a range of issues including welfare reform.
	There is good co-operation. Recently Welsh Assembly Government colleagues held a consultation event in Wales on welfare reform, which was supported by both the Assembly's Deputy Skills Minister and myself.

Health Services

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on the use of health services in Wales by patients resident in England.

Wayne David: Wales Office Ministers have regular discussions with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on a range of issues, including health.
	The Welsh Affairs Committee interim report acknowledges that cross border patient flow is both inevitable and natural if patients are to access the care they need.

All Wales Convention

Peter Hain: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on the All Wales Convention.

Paul Murphy: I have been following the Convention's work, in discussions with Welsh Ministers and others. It has a key role in assessing public support for the transfer of full lawmaking powers, and I will be interested in seeing its conclusions.

UK Banks

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the exposure of Welsh taxpayers to the liabilities of UK banks.

Paul Murphy: I have had no such discussions. We in Wales do not stand alone in the current financial turmoil—this is a global crisis, requiring co-ordinated global action. The UK led the way in re-capitalising and strengthening the banks, and now the Europeans and Americans are following our lead. Ultimately the re-capitalisation of the banks is an investment, and the shares acquired will be sold off to the benefit of the taxpayer in the long term.

Mentally Ill Staff

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what information his Department has gathered on the effect of its policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of employees with mental illnesses within his Department; and what use has been made of that information.

Paul Murphy: The Wales Office has not gathered information relating to employees with mental illnesses. Wales Office staff are recruited as existing civil servants, and their home employers (Ministry of Justice and Welsh Assembly Government) are responsible for collecting this information.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Homophobia: Crime

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what training is provided to members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in dealing with homophobic crime cases.

Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House and the  Official Report.

Magilligan Port

Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what the security status is of Magilligan Port; and what consideration has been given to designating it an international port for security purposes;
	(2)  what factors were taken into account when deciding to increase the security arrangements on the local river ferry between Magilligan and Greencastle; and what consideration was made of the general security situation when taking that decision.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
	Magilligan Point ferry terminal operates an international ferry route to the Republic of Ireland. The terminal facility is therefore subject to security requirements set by the Department for Transport consistent with all port facilities in the UK servicing international ferry routes as required by European Commission Regulation No. 725/2004. Limavady borough council is responsible for implementing security at the terminal. A recent Department for Transport security inspection of the terminal highlighted some areas for improvement. In response to the Department's observations the council has decided to implement enhanced security measures on a temporary basis to serve as a training measure for security staff at the port. The terminal will revert to standard security measures once the necessary training has been completed.

Restorative Justice

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which restorative justice groups have been approved by the Northern Ireland Office; where those groups are located; and which groups have subsequently fulfilled all the criteria required of them.

Paul Goggins: A list of accredited community-based restorative justice schemes is maintained by the Secretary of State and is available on the NIO website. 15 schemes have been accredited under the Protocol for Community-based Restorative Justice (CBRJ) Schemes to date. They are:
	East Belfast Alternatives, East Belfast;
	Greater Shankill Alternatives, West Belfast;
	North Belfast Alternatives, North Belfast;
	North Down Alternatives, Bangor;
	Northern Ireland Alternatives Central Office, West Belfast;
	Community Restorative Justice Ireland (CRJI) Central Office, West Belfast;
	CRJI Colin, Belfast;
	CRJI Falls, Belfast;
	CRJI Greater Andersonstown, Belfast;
	CRJI Upper Springfield, Belfast;
	CRJI Derry Head Office, Derry;
	CRJI Ballymagroarty, Derry;
	CRJI Brandywell, Derry;
	CRJI Creggan, Derry; and
	CRJI Shantallow, Derry.
	All of these accredited schemes have fulfilled the stringent requirements of the CBRJ Protocol, as confirmed by the Criminal Justice Inspectorate prior to being considered for accreditation. Schemes' fulfilment of the requirements of the protocol will continue to be monitored through the scrutiny mechanisms described in the published protocol.

Young Offenders

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of 16 to 25-year-olds in Northern Ireland who have been through the criminal justice system were not in employment, education or training in each of the last three years.

Paul Goggins: The data requested are not available. Court conviction datasets do not contain specific background information in relation to offenders' employment, education or training.

DEFENCE

Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to support the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence by signing a memorandum of understanding with the Centre; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 2 June 2008,  Official Report, column 677W, to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox), and on 29 April 2008,  Official Report, column 267W, to the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies).

BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Broadband: Rural Areas

John Greenway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will take steps to encourage a competitive broadband market in rural areas, with specific reference to North Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Government set a target for the UK to have the most extensive and competitive broadband market in the G7 by the end of 2005. This objective was achieved with over 99 per cent. of UK households connected to a broadband enabled exchange and around 50 per cent. also having access to broadband through the cable network.
	On 17 October the Government launched a programme of work for Digital Britain. Reporting in the spring, it aims to capture the opportunities these technologies offer for every business in the UK economy and for people's quality of life, and to advance our standing as a world leader in these industries. One strand of this work will examine how we can maximise broadband development to enhance participation and levels of service across the UK.
	The regional development agency continues to help address broadband supply in both North and South Yorkshire by providing funding to both the North Yorkshire net (NYNet) and South Yorkshire Digital Region projects.
	In addition, Ofcom is currently carrying out a review of the ex-ante regulation imposed on BT and KCOM in certain leased lines markets in the UK with a view to updating it to reflect the perceived changes in market conditions. They are due to publish their final statement shortly.

Departmental Public Participation

Theresa May: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many citizens' juries his Department has held since 1 July 2007; what the cost was of each; what issues were discussed at each event; and how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) members of the public attended each event.

Ian Pearson: The Department has not held any citizens' juries since July 2007.

Dietary Supplements: EU Law

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he is taking to promote the interests of UK manufacturers of specialist food supplements and herbal remedies within the European Union.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	The interests of United Kingdom manufacturers of specialist food supplements are being represented as part of working group discussions and bilateral meetings between the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and their counterparts in other member states.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been running an extensive programme to manage the regulatory impact of the traditional herbal registration scheme. This programme, which includes individual company meetings held free of charge to help companies progress their plans to register products, is contributing to the steady expansion in the number of applications made and registrations granted under the scheme in the United Kingdom. Where companies have acquired successful experience of the scheme, they may wish to take up opportunities to submit applications to register products in other member states of the European Union.
	There are no current plans for Health Ministers to meet with the food supplements industry. The FSA meets regularly with the food supplements industry to discuss issues relating to food supplements, including the work on setting maximum levels.
	We have been advised by the FSA that member states were not consulted by the European Commission before the commencement of the Commission's impact assessment exercise in summer 2008. The FSA has met with the contractor appointed by the European Commission to carry out the work and provided details of United Kingdom stakeholders who could provide the data on the food supplements which are currently being marketed.
	The FSA has not made an assessment of the options put forward in the European Commission's impact assessment exercise and their impact on specialist manufacturers and retailers and consumer choice. An assessment of the likely impact will be made when the specific levels being proposed by the European Commission are available. These will be set out in European Commission proposals, which are currently expected in January 2009, on which the FSA will consult fully.
	In advance of the Commission publishing its proposals, an ad hoc technical working group comprising a small number of member states has been established which met for the first time on 15 October 2008. A further technical working group meeting has been suggested for late November 2008 and it is envisaged that the outputs of these meetings will then be reported back to all member states at a full working group meeting, a date for which is yet to be advised.
	A meeting was held on 11 April 2008 between officials from the Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man Governments and those of the FSA, MHRA and Ministry of Justice. Officials representing the Government of Jersey indicated that a major update of food safety legislation was under way in Jersey and that both the Food Supplements Directive and the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation are to be implemented as part of this exercise. Discussions at official level regarding the implementation of the legislation in Guernsey are ongoing.
	The MHRA has written to the Government of Jersey to begin discussions with them on the implementation of the Medicines Directive 2001/83/EC. During 2007 and 2008, the MHRA has had written discussions and a series of meetings with the Government of Guernsey over the implementation of the Medicines Directive. The MHRA believes that Guernsey's proposed medicines law will receive Royal Assent in the near future. The MHRA will continue to assist the Government of Guernsey in the development of the additional legislation required for implementation of the Medicines Directive.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Official Report

Jo Swinson: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 858W, on Official Report, what the average cost was of making all the forms of the Official Report available in printed form per sitting day in the 10 financial years before 2007-08.

Nick Harvey: The financial information required to calculate figures for the whole period requested has not been retained. The average costs, to the nearest £1,000 in cash terms, for previous financial years for which information is available are as follows:
	
		
			   Average cost (£) 
			 2006-07 22,000 
			 2005-06 18,000 
			 2004-05 19,000 
			 2003-04 17,000 
			 2002-03 17,000 
			 2001-02 15,000 
			 2000-01 14,000

Security

Christopher Huhne: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how many House of Commons security passes have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen in each year since 2001.

Nick Harvey: The following table captures the available data on passes reported lost and stolen:
	
		
			   October to December 2007  January to October 2008 
			 Lost 5 16 
			 Stolen 0 3 
			
			 Total 5 19 
		
	
	These data have been taken from the new pass system introduced in summer 2007. Data prior to October 2007 are in an old software system, not easily accessible at present. Work is under way to try and make the old system compatible with the new so that historic information can be easily retrieved.
	As I told the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 8 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1453W, the number of parliamentary photo-identity passes that had been lost or stolen in the 24 months leading up to June 2008 was 31 and that 313 had been reported missing over the past nine years.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the Government's policy is on whether the EU should reduce emissions by 30 per cent. against 1990 levels if an international agreement on climate change is reached.

Joan Ruddock: As and when a comprehensive international agreement on climate change is reached, the EU (and the Government) is committed to reducing EU greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent. against 1990 levels. The Government believe that a quick and transparent process for scaling up the EU emissions reduction target from 20-30 per cent. in the event of such an international commitment is essential.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Departmental Public Participation

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many citizens' juries her Department has held since 1 July 2007; what the cost was of each; what was discussed at each event; and how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) members of the public attended each event.

Hazel Blears: In December 2007 Communities and Local Government held two citizens' juries jointly with the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills, in London and in Hull, to discuss how targeted provision of teaching English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) can help build community cohesion. The events cost £69,965 split equally between CLG and DIUS. I attended the jury in London on behalf of CLG and my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell) attended on behalf of DIUS. 17 members of the public attended in Hull and 18 in London.

Departmental Security

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many security passes have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen by staff in (i) her Department and its predecessors and (ii) agencies sponsored by her Department in each year since 2001.

Sadiq Khan: DCLG was formed on 5 May 2006 and this reply also relates to its predecessor, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. However, records for security passes reported as  (a) lost and  (b) stolen in the London HQ buildings are not available before 2005.
	
		
			  London HQ buildings: 
			   2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Lost 43 69 31 18 
			 Stolen 7 6 0 3 
		
	
	The Government office for west midlands reissued all of their passes on 1 January 2008. No records have been retained about losses up to that date.
	
		
			  Government offices for the regions 
			GOL  GOE  GOEM  GONE  GOSE  GOSW  GONW  GOYH  GOWM 
			 2001 Lost 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2002 Lost 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 0 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2003 Lost 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 0 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2004 Lost 0 0 0 3 0 0 24 0 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2005 Lost 29 0 0 5 1 0 15 0 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2006 Lost 30 0 0 2 1 0 10 0 1 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2007 Lost 20 0 0 12 1 0 6 2 1 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 
			 2008 Lost 24 4 4 7 0 10 7 10 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 
		
	
	
		
			  CLG agencies 
			Hemmel  AHH  FSC Morton  FEU Morton  PINS  QEII CC 
			 2001 Lost 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2002 Lost 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2003 Lost 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2004 Lost 2 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2005 Lost 8 0 0 0 0 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2006 Lost 4 0 0 0 40 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2007 Lost 1 1 0 0 79 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2008 Lost 0 0 0 0 67 0 
			  Stolen 0 0 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	None of the passes for the HQ Buildings, the GOs or agencies have the name or address of the building, Department or organisation to which it refers, on them. The Department assesses all cases of lost or stolen passes to determine any increased vulnerability to security. Additional controls and procedures are introduced as necessary.

Housing Companies: Reorganisation

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the cost of amalgamating the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships; and how much and what proportion of these costs she expects to be expended on  (a) consultancy,  (b) IT and temporary staff costs,  (c) communications work,  (d) redundancy and  (e) re-hire payments.

Iain Wright: The costs of the Homes and Communities Agency are set out in the Housing and Regeneration Bill—Impact Assessment. This states that the one-off cost of setting up the Homes and Communities Agency will be £20 million over three years.
	It is not possible at this time to provide a reliable estimate of the proportions of the expected cost that will be devoted to the categories identified.

Housing Revenue Accounts

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the national level of housing revenue account subsidy was in each year since 1990; and what it is projected to be in each of the next 15 years, using the same assumptions which have been made for the housing revenue account pilot opt-outs.

Iain Wright: A table showing the national level of housing revenue account (HRA) subsidy from 1995-96 to 2006-07 (the last year for which audited data is available) is as follows.
	The table shows the value of the 'bricks and mortar' element of HRA subsidy. Prior to 2004-05, HRA subsidy also contained a rent rebate element. This is omitted from the table to ensure consistency with post 2004-05 data. Prior to 2004-05, surpluses in the 'bricks and mortar' element were applied to the cost of rent rebates for local authorities.
	
		
			   HRA Subsidy (£) 
			 1995-96 - 390,050,431 
			 1996-97 - 563,028,455 
			 1997-98 - 668,307,497 
			 1998-99 -869,992,311 
			 1999-2000 -1,040,869,030 
			 2000-01 -1,123,786,228 
			 2001-02 351,105,009 
			 2002-03 252,059,142 
			 2003-04 191,153,240 
			 2004-05 77,994,764 
			 2005-06 249,427,865 
			 2006-07 133,943,708 
		
	
	Pre 1995-96 data are available only at disproportionate cost.
	As part of the self financing modelling exercise some broad forecasts of future HRA subsidy entitlement were generated at a national level. These forecasts were based upon a number of assumptions about factors such as the number of dwellings in the HRA subsidy system, interest rates and rates of inflation. The forecasts are highly sensitive to changes in any of these assumptions. They are based upon the 2007-08 HRA subsidy system.
	The forecast subsidies generated were as follows:
	
		
			   HRA subsidy (£ million) 
			 2008-09 -194 
			 2009-10 -216 
			 2010-11 -303 
			 2011-12 -421 
			 2012-13 -424 
			 2013-14 -376 
			 2014-15 -398 
			 2015-16 -434 
			 2016-17 -476 
			 2017-18 -543 
			 2018-19 -611 
			 2019-20 -680 
			 2020-21 -750 
			 2021-22 -822 
			 2022-23 -894

Housing: Disadvantaged

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) council houses,  (b) houses rented by registered social landlords,  (c) private rented houses in multiple occupation and  (d) private rented houses which are not in multiple occupation there are in (i) the most deprived ward and (ii) the most deprived lower-layer super output area in (A) Barry, (B) Blackpool, (C) Bognor Regis, (D) Bournemouth, (E) Bridlington, (F) Brighton, (G) Burnham on Sea, (H) Clacton, (I) Conwy, (J) Dawlish/Teignmouth, (K) Deal, (L) Eastbourne, (M) Exmouth, (N) Falmouth, (O) Folkestone/Hythe, (P) Great Yarmouth, (Q) Hastings/Bexhill, (R) Ilfracombe, (S) Isle of Wight, (T) Lowestoft, (U) Minehead, (V) Morecambe/Heysham, (W) Newquay, (X) Penzance, (Y) Porthcawl, (Z) Rhyl, (AA) Scarborough, (BB) Sidmouth, (CC) Skegness, (DD) Southend on Sea, (EE) Southport, (FF) St Ives, (GG) Swanage, (HH) Thanet, (II) Torbay, (JJ) Weston super Mare, (KK) Weymouth, (LL) Whitby, (MM) Whitley Bay, (NN) Whitstable/Herne Bay and (OO) Worthing.

Iain Wright: The information requested is not available centrally.

Housing: Disadvantaged

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many  (a) licensed and  (b) unlicensed houses of multiple occupation there are in (i) Barry, (ii) Blackpool, (iii) Bognor Regis, (iv) Bournemouth, (v) Bridlington, (vi) Brighton, (vii) Burnham on Sea, (viii) Clacton, (ix) Conway, (x) Dawlish/Teignmouth, (xi) Deal, (xii) Eastbourne, (xiii) Exmouth, (xiv) Falmouth, (xv) Folkestone/Hythe, (xvi) Great Yarmouth, (xvii) Hastings/Bexhill, (xviii) Ilfracombe, (xix) Isle of Wight, (xx) Lowestoft, (xxi) Minehead, (xxii) Morecambe/Heysham, (xxiii) Newquay, (xxiv) Penzance, (xxv) Porthcawl, (xxvi) Rhyl, (xxvii) Scarborough, (xxviii) Sidmouth, (xxix) Skegness, (xxx) Southend on Sea, (xxxi) Southport, (xxxii) St Ives, (xxxiii) Swanage, (xxxiv) Thanet, (xxxv) Torbay, (xxxvi) Weston super Mare, (xxxvii) Weymouth, (xxxviii) Whitby, (xxxix) Whitley Bay, (xl) Whitstable/Herne Bay and (xli) Worthing.

Iain Wright: The information requested is not available centrally.

Local Authorities: Mortgages

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she next plans to review the standard national rate for local authority mortgages.

Iain Wright: The standard national rate is subject to frequent review as required by section 438 and Schedule 16 of the Housing Act 1985. We will be reviewing the rate in the next few weeks.

Local Authorities: Mortgages

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 982W, on local authorities: mortgages, which building society lending rates are used for the purpose of reviewing the standard national rate (SNR) for local authority mortgages; and what those rates were at the time of the last review of the SNR.

Iain Wright: The names and lending rates of the societies which were used in the 1 September review process are detailed in the following table.
	
		
			   Base percentage 
			  Building society  Standard Variable R ate 
			 Nationwide 6.80 
			 Yorkshire 6.90 
			 Britannia 7.20 
			 Coventry 7.20 
			 Skipton 6.50 
			 Chelsea 6.70 
		
	
	By means of a weighting mechanism to take account of the mortgage market share of the building societies, the standard national rate is calculated using their standard variable rates.
	The standard national rate for local authority mortgages was last reviewed on 1 September 2008 and remained at 6.89 per cent.

Local Government: Pensions

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the implications of the deficit in the Local Government Contributory Pension Fund.

John Healey: As required by the regulations which govern the Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales, the scheme was actuarially valued as at 31 March 2007 and the employer contribution rates established for the financial period 2008-09 to 2010-11 ensure that the scheme remains solvent. Under the terms of the scheme, members' pension payments are guaranteed.

Members: Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to reply to the hon. Member for West Chelmsford's letter of 4 September 2008 on Mr. Paul Carlier of Little Waltham, Chelmsford.

Iain Wright: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 20 October 2008.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will discuss with the Chancellor of the Exchequer options for providing support for homebuyers in negative equity as a result of the mis-selling of mortgages by banks.

Iain Wright: On 2 September, as part of a wider package of new measures designed to meet current challenges in the housing market, the Government announced a mortgage rescue scheme which will help up to 6,000 households who would otherwise be repossessed stay in their home. The Government will fund registered social landlords to buy all or part of the house, which the homeowner will then be able to rent back at a subsidised rate. This will be fully operational from January 2009.
	The Government are committed to providing a wide range of support, advice and assistance to homeowners facing difficulties in the current economic circumstances. The situation will continue to be kept under active review.

Rates and Rating: Credit Unions

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had on a review of the liability of credit unions for business rates; and what consideration she has given to extending the dispensation currently applied to charities to credit unions and other social enterprises.

John Healey: No such discussions have taken place as credit unions and other social enterprises can already qualify for mandatory charity relief if they are specifically established for charitable purposes and use the property in question in the exercise of these purposes. To qualify for discretionary relief the social enterprise must be non-profit making and the property it occupies used for social, philanthropic, educational or religious purposes.

TREASURY

Banks: Compensation

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that the banking rescue package will not affect levels of expenditure on public services in the short, medium and long term.

Ian Pearson: The Chancellor of the Exchequer will provide an update on the Government's fiscal position in the autumn pre-Budget report.

Child Benefit

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 6 October 2008, on child benefit, what percentage of callers to the child benefit helpline were automatically informed to call later by answer message because the lines were too busy in 2007-08.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 13 October 2008
	During 2007-08, the busy message was played to 29 per cent. of call attempts to the child benefit helpline.
	Service levels on the child benefit helpline have been affected over the last 12 months by a variety of different factors. These include increased customer demand and longer call handling times following the introduction of enhanced security arrangements after HMRC's data loss in 2007. When the number of callers is high, as it has been on the child benefit helpline, calls are more likely to go unanswered with a higher number of busy messages played. Customers who cannot get through on their first attempt often use the rapid redial facility on their telephone to make numerous successive calls and this rapidly increases the number of unanswered calls and busy messages.
	HMRC's latest contact centre customer survey, covering March to August 2008, shows that over 91 per cent. of callers were satisfied with the service they received from the child benefit helpline. The Department has, however, developed plans to further improve the service provided on the helpline.
	These plans include allocation of an extra 50 advisers to the helpline by the end of the year; improving links between contact centres and the child benefit processing office to provide a better customer service; providing a set of automated messages on the helpline to enable callers to get basic relevant information about child benefit without needing to wait for or talk to an adviser and directing customers to the newly improved child benefit content on the HMRC website, which includes an improved payment date tracker. These measures will reduce the number of busy messages played to customers and enable more customers to speak to an adviser more quickly, should they need to.

Child Benefit

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average length of time taken to process a new application for child benefit was in the latest period for which figures are available; and what steps he is taking to expedite the process.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 20 October 2008
	In 2007-08, 64.5 per cent. of claims were processed in five working days, and 94 per cent. in 36 working days. There is on average four days between processing and paying.
	For 2008-09, HM Revenue and Customs aim to pay 69 per cent. of new child benefit claims in nine working days and all new claims in 20 calendar days. This is the first year that this target has been in place. Performance outturn for 2008-09 will be published in due course.
	HMRC continually reviews its processes to improve timeliness of payment to customers.

Departmental Information and Communications Technology

Michael Ancram: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department spent on upgrading its IT in each of the last three financial years.

Angela Eagle: Details of the Department's spending on upgrading IT equipment is shown in notes 11.1 and 12 of the annual Resource Accounts. Copies of the Treasury's Resource Accounts are available on the Treasury's website
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/resource_accounting_and_ budgeting_about_us.htm.
	HC 1344 covers 2005-06, HC 518 2006-07 and HC 539 2007-08.

Departmental NDPBs

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what funding has been agreed with each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies for the period 2008 to 2011.

Angela Eagle: The Department does not include any non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs).

Equitable Life

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when in autumn 2008 the Government plan to respond to the report of the Parliamentary Ombudsman on Equitable Life.

Ian Pearson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1000W.

Financial Services: EU Action

Ann Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the UK may withdraw unilaterally from the Mark to Market rules under European Union legislation.

Ian Pearson: UK groups are required to use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), including those relating to valuation, when preparing their accounts. IFRS are set by the International Accounting Standards Board and adopted for use inside the EU under the relevant legislation by the member states of the EU and the European Parliament.

HBOS: Lloyds TSB

Linda Riordan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to ensure that as many HBOS employees in Halifax as possible retain their jobs as part of the conditions of the pending merger of HBOS with Lloyds TSB.

Ian Pearson: It is in everyone's interest—customers, shareholders and employees—that the future of the firm is secure. As this is a commercial transaction, it will be for Lloyds TSB to determine the future of the company but the Government will remain in contact with the firms about this issue. Recognising the challenges that the region faces as a result of recent changes to local banking services, the Chancellor has asked Yorkshire Forward to convene a group to conduct rapid assessment on what is needed to support local jobs.

Revenue and Customs

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the revenue recovered by HM Revenue and Customs Compliance and Enforcement Unit in each year since 2003-04.

Stephen Timms: The results of tackling non-compliance are primarily measured by additional liabilities assessed, and these are shown in the following table for both direct tax and VAT.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Direct tax  VAT  Total 
			 2003-04 3,957 2,965 6,922 
			 2004-05 5,234 2,734 7,969 
			 2005-06 5,366 3,762 9,128 
			 2006-07 9,167 3,577 12,744 
		
	
	2007-08 figures are currently being finalised.

Taxation: Self-assessment

Andrew Love: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the average cost to HM Revenue and Customs is of processing a tax return; and how many tax returns would be obviated by increasing the thresholds in line with rental inflation;
	(2)  what the annual cost was of providing the rent-a-room tax scheme at the current threshold of £4,250 in each of the last five years; and what the annual cost would be of indexing the rent-a-room threshold in line with rental inflation from the £4,250 base set in 1997-98.

Stephen Timms: The average paybill cost of processing an income tax self assessment return in 2007-08 was £15.72. If the rent-a-room threshold had been increased in line with inflation since 1997-98 up to 5,000 taxpayers would have been taken out of self assessment.
	The estimated tax cost of exempting income under the rent-a-room scheme is published in table A3.1 of Budget 2008.
	The annual cost of increasing the rent-a-room threshold in line with rental inflation from the level of £4,250 set for 1997-98 is around £5 million.

Working Tax Credit

Susan Kramer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of families eligible for the childcare element of the working tax credit claimed it in each year for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is not available.
	However, estimates of the average number of families benefiting from the child care element of working tax credit are provided in Table 2.4 of the HMRC publications 'Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised annual awards', for each relevant year. These are available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Departmental Official Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Leader of the House how much was spent on overnight accommodation by civil servants from her Office in the last 12 months.

Chris Bryant: Nothing.

Departmental Security

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Leader of the House how many security passes have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen by staff in her Office in each year since 2001.

Chris Bryant: Due to the machinery of government changes, the Leader of the House of Commons office now forms part of the Cabinet Office. Information on the loss of security passes can be provided only from June 2006 to present. In this time only one security pass has been reported lost.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bovine Tuberculosis

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the incidence was of bovine tuberculosis in each county of England and Wales in each non-bovine species in each year since 1997.

Jane Kennedy: It is not possible to give accurate figures for the incidence of TB caused by Mycobacterium bovis in non-bovine domestic animals in England and Wales. This is because there is no active surveillance programme in place and no systematic, random surveys of TB have ever been conducted in these species. Furthermore, the identification of  M. bovis in tissues and clinical samples from all mammals (excepting man) and the detection of suspect TB lesions in farmed and companion mammals (other than cattle and farmed deer), became notifiable only in February 2006.
	Data can be provided only on the number of  M. bovis isolations from notified suspect clinical and post-mortem cases of TB arising in domestic animals other than cattle. For these reasons, and because these cases came from a small non-random sample of all the susceptible animals in England and Wales, these data are not an exact reflection of the true incidence of bovine TB in domestic animals.
	
		
			   Animal and County 
			 1997 Nil 
			 1998 Domestic cat (2) Cornwall (1); Wiltshire (1) 
			 1999 Llama (3) Gwent (3) 
			 2000 Domestic cat (3) Herefordshire (2 Plus another for which we have no data on the location.) 
			 2001 Nil 
			 2002 Cat (2) Gloucestershire (1), Wiltshire (1); Dog (1) Gloucestershire; Domestic Pig (1) Wiltshire Sheep (1) Wiltshire. 
			 2003 Domestic pig (8) Herefordshire (3) and Devon (5); Alpaca (2) Gloucestershire (1); Somerset (1); Llama (1) Herefordshire. 
			 2004 Domestic cat (6) South Gloucestershire (1); Cornwall (3); Somerset (1); Shropshire (1); Dog (1) North Wiltshire; Domestic Pig (1) Gloucestershire.; Alpaca (1) Devon; Sheep (3) (imported from N. Ireland) 
			 2005 Domestic cat (13) Cornwall (2); Devon (1); Somerset (1); Gloucestershire. (1); Worcestershire (1); Staffordshire (1); Cheshire (1); East Sussex (1); Ceredigion (1); Powys (1); West Glamorgan (1); Lincolnshire (1); Domestic Pig (12) Cornwall (9 from the same farm); Worcestershire (2); Gloucestershire(1); Llama (1) Avon; Sheep (2) Gloucestershire (1); Worcestershire (1); Ferret (3) East Sussex (all 3 cases) 
			 2006 Domestic cat (14) Avon (3); Gloucestershire. (3); Devon (2); Worcestershire (2); Staffordshire (1); Wiltshire (1); Shropshire (1); Pembrokeshire (1); Domestic pig (2) Gloucestershire (1); Monmouthshire (1); Farmed wild boar (2) Cornwall (same farm); Alpaca (1) East Sussex; Llama (8) Devon (all in llamas from the same premises) 
			 2007 Domestic cat (15) Avon (1); Cornwall (1); Devon (4); Gloucestershire (1); Monmouthshire (1); Somerset (2); Shropshire (1); Wiltshire (2); Worcestershire (2); Dog (1) Rhondda Cynon Taff (South Wales); Domestic pigs(5) Shropshire (3), Somerset (1), Gloucestershire (1); Goat (2) both cases from the same farm in Wiltshire; Alpaca (4) Powys (2 from the same farm); Dorset (2 from same farm); Llama(16) Carmarthenshire (11 from the same premises); Devon (5 from the same premises).

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what factors underlay the decision to reduce the number of herds tested for bovine tuberculosis between January and June 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.

Jane Kennedy: There has been no deliberate decision by DEFRA to decrease the number of herds tested for bovine tuberculosis (TB) in 2008 compared to 2007.
	The number of routine TB surveillance tests is determined on the basis of parish testing intervals, which are reviewed on an annual basis. In addition, further testing is generated as a result of new and ongoing TB incidents.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the potential for bovine tuberculosis to transfer between  (a) badgers and humans,  (b) badgers and companion animals,  (c) cattle and humans and  (d) cattle and companion animals.

Jane Kennedy: Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is primarily a respiratory disease in most mammalian species, however, the relative importance of different routes of transmission (respiratory, oral, cutaneous) among and between species is unknown.
	The principal species affected by bovine TB in Great Britain are cattle and badgers. While small numbers of companion animal species and many wild animal species have been shown to be infected with bovine TB, most are spill-over hosts. There is some indirect evidence of transmission from spillover hosts though it is uncertain how often this is occurring.
	The Health Protection Agency has lead responsibility for tuberculosis in humans and works closely with DEFRA where human cases of Mycobacterium bovis ( M. bovis) infection are identified. The risk posed by bovine TB to human health from cattle, pets or wildlife is considered very low and the number of cases is not increasing. In 2006 there were 33 cases in the UK. Most cases seen today are attributable to infection picked up abroad or reactivation of infection in older people who contracted the infection before the introduction of milk pasteurisation. Despite the low risk there are robust controls in place to protect public health. These include regular testing of cattle herds and early removal of test reactors; cattle movement controls; a cattle tracing system; slaughterhouse inspections; controls on meat and milk; and occupational health controls. DEFRA works in liaison with a number of Government Departments including the Health Protection Agency, Department of Health, Food Standards Agency and Health and Safety Executive, to help protect the public from contracting infection caused by  M. bovis.

Carbon Emissions: Waste Disposal

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 14 January 2008,  Official Report, column 869W, on waste disposal: domestic waste, whether the work on estimating dioxin emissions from domestic burning is complete; and if he will place in the Library copies of the research reports on the topic to date.

Jane Kennedy: The work referred to is still ongoing. The results will be due later this year.

Departmental Research

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research that his Department has commissioned is being undertaken by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA does not routinely commission research from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) but, rather asks for advice. JNCC then commissions research that it believes is necessary to underpin this advice. Details of this research are available in the JNCC annual report and its planned research is contained in its Corporate Plan, both of which can be found on JNCC's website.
	There is one exception however, in that JNCC is currently undertaking DEFRA commissioned research on the status of marine habitats and species as part of DEFRA's contract to JNCC to author chapters of 'Charting Progress 2'. This in turn is a contribution to the UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy, as required under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Dogs: Animal Welfare

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the levels of  (a) deformity,  (b) disability and  (c) hereditary disease amongst (i) pedigree and (ii) other dogs;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of breeding practices on the welfare of pedigree dogs, with particular reference to consanguinity between breed pairs;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the effects of the rules and regulations of pedigree dog shows on the welfare of pedigree dogs;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the effects of breed standards on the welfare of pedigree dogs; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what his policy is on the culling of pedigree dogs which do not meet breed standards; what estimate he has made of the number of pedigree dogs  (a) culled and  (b) neutered on such grounds in each of the last three years; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ban this practice;
	(6)  if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend breed standards in order to reduce health problems and improve the welfare and life expectancy of pedigree dogs;
	(7)  if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ban  (a) inbred dogs,  (b) unhealthy dogs and  (c) dogs with inherited diseases from being entered in pedigree shows;
	(8)  if he will introduce mandatory health checks for pedigree dogs as a condition of entry into pedigree shows;
	(9)  if he will review the standards and rules relating to breed showing for their implications for animal welfare;
	(10)  what recent representations he has received on inbreeding in pedigree dogs and its effects on animal welfare; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The Dogs Trust and the Kennel Club have jointly announced an independent and wide ranging review of dog breeding. I will shortly meet with representatives of these organisations to discuss the assistance that DEFRA can provide to the review.

Fishing: Norwegian Exclusive Economic Zone

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department has information on the amount of fish caught by vessels from other EU member states within the Norwegian Exclusive Economic Zone and then discarded in EU member state waters in each year since 1997.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Information on the scale of such discards is not available.

Fisheries: Quotas

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 865W, on fisheries: quotas, whether the quota management change programme remains in existence following the Scottish Executive's withdrawal from it; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The formal withdrawal by the Scottish Executive from the quota management change programme (QMCP) in September 2007 effectively brought about the end to this process.
	DEFRA is considering the options on how best to take forward work on quota reform. This work will be done in close partnership with the devolved Administrations and in consultation with the industry. It will also need to be considered in the context of the common fisheries policy (CFP) reform agenda.

Government Decontamination Service: Manpower

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many full-time equivalent staff are employed by the Government Decontamination Service, broken down by  (a) region and  (b) county of employment.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Government Decontamination Service, which provides a UK wide service, has its office in Stafford, West Midlands. The 24.76 full-time equivalent staff, as at 20 October 2008, all work out of this office.

Hamford Water Estuary

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what statutory obligations the Harwich Haven Authority has for the development or conservation of Hamford water estuary.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
	None. Hamford water estuary lies outside the jurisdiction of the Harwich Haven Authority.

Marine Animals: Biodiversity

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of non-native invasive species identified in UK waters in each year since 1997; what types of non-native species were identified in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: My Department does not currently compile annual estimates of the number of non-native species identified in UK waters. However, under the Invasive Non-Native Species Framework Strategy for Great Britain, we are commissioning a dedicated directory of information about presence and spread of non-native species in Great Britain. This will aim to collate information from surveillance and monitoring activity both terrestrially and in the marine area. Records of non-native species are also being collated on an all-Ireland basis.
	Within the UK, recent audits of non-native species have been commissioned in England and Scotland.
	In Scotland, an audit was conducted in 2001 and efforts since then have included co-ordination at the GB level and work by Scottish Natural Heritage on a Species Action Framework. This sets out a strategic approach to species management in Scotland and was based on a review of key priorities. The framework identified six invasive non-native species as the focus of new action for five years from 2007. Further details can be found at:
	http://www.snh.org.uk/speciesactionframework/saf-list.asp#2
	For England, a database of non-native species introductions was produced as part of an audit commissioned by Natural England; this extends up to 2005. It indicates that since 1997 two to three new species, on average, have been identified each year in marine and freshwater environments in England as shown in the following table. The majority of these new introductions have been animals and most have been found in the freshwater environment. Of these freshwater animals, three species have been identified as potentially invasive, while four of the marine animals have been similarly categorised.
	
		
			  Non-native aquatic species observed in the wild in England, 1997 to 2005( 1) 
			  Type  Total number of species  Mean number of species per year 
			 Marine animal 6 0.9 
			 Marine plants 1 0.1 
			 Freshwater animal 11 1.6 
			 Total 18 2.6 
			 ( 1)  Source: Audit of non-native species in England. English Nature. ISSN 0967-876X.

Recreational Sea Angling Strategy

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what his response is to the draft Recreational Sea Angling Strategy; which policies in the strategy he plans to implement; whether he has a timetable for implementing the strategy; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what species will be covered by management plans introduced under the draft Recreational Sea Angling Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Summary of Responses to the DEFRA consultation on a draft Recreational Sea Angling Strategy will be published shortly, and will include a brief outline of the next steps. Revisions to the draft strategy are being made to reflect the results of the consultation, after which the revised draft will be discussed with key stakeholders. DEFRA intends to publish the revised strategy before the end of the year.
	In advance of the publication of the revised strategy, revised management measures for sea bass, which is a prime sports fish for the sea angling sector, are under consideration. This involves a review of the 30 restricted areas in existence around the English coast to protect juvenile bass. The first stage of this process has just been completed, involving questionnaires being sent to Sea Fisheries Committees and the Marine Fisheries Agency in coastal regions of England, to identify whether amendments to the existing areas, or new areas, are needed. Full consultation with stakeholders will take place in the new year once the results of the first stage of the process have been assessed.

Special Areas of Conservation: EU Action

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the candidate special areas of conservation listed as the Dee, Humber and Severn estuaries have been formally adopted as such by the European Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Dee, Humber and Severn estuaries have not yet been formally adopted by the Commission as Sites of Community Importance. But we expect that process to be finalised shortly. My Department will then institute the necessary procedures to formally designate these sites as Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive.

Veterinary Services: Standards

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will ensure that the implementation of any recommendations emerging from the Hampton Review of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate does not lead to a diminution of the quality of support provided for the delivery of veterinary medicines.

Jane Kennedy: Recommendations relating to Hampton have as their objective more effective and efficient delivery of regulation and interactions with business. This is the basis behind the consultation on a possible structural merger involving the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

Warm Front Scheme

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the projected budget for Warm Front is for the next three years.

Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
	The projected Warm Front budget for the 2008-11 period is set at £874 million.

HEALTH

Ambulance Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of ambulance handovers took more than  (a) 15,  (b) 30,  (c) 45 and  (d) 60 minutes in the last 12 months.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not available in the format requested. The Department of Health expects ambulance trusts and acute trusts to work together and to share information to manage periods of high or unexpected demand effectively to prevent delays in patient handovers from occurring.
	It is clearly important that patients are handed over to A and E as soon as possible after the ambulance arrives, and the A and E clock for the four-hour standard should start 15 minutes after the ambulance arrives regardless of whether the patient has been handed over or not. The Department continues to make clear to the NHS that local services need to ensure they have effective and efficient processes in place to deliver timely handover.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital Trust: Cleaning Services

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on cleaning by the Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital Trust in the latest period for which information is available.

Ben Bradshaw: Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust have reported £6,224,771 through the annual estates related information collection as their cleaning services costs in 2006-07. These data are as provided by the NHS organisation. Further information is available on the following Hospital Estates and Facilities Statistics (hfes) website
	www.hefs.ic.nhs.uk

Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital Trust: Parking

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much revenue was raised in car parking by Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospital Trust area in the latest period for which information is available.

Ben Bradshaw: Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS trust has reported via the estates related information collection income of £748,000 for car parking for staff and visitors in 2006-07. These data are as provided by the NHS organisation. Further information is available on the following Hospital Estates and Facilities Statistics (hfes) website:
	www.hefs.ic.nhs.uk

Carers

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps the Government are taking to assist carers;
	(2)  how many people over the age of 60 were registered as carers in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England in each year since 1997;
	(3)  how many people are in receipt of a carer's allowance in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England; and how many were in receipt of the allowance in each year since its inception.

Phil Hope: This information is not held centrally.
	We are investing over £255 million to ensure that the Carers Strategy is implemented, this includes:
	providing every carer with the opportunity to access comprehensive information when they need it;
	making an additional £150 million available over two years for provision of breaks from caring;
	pilots to look at how the national health service can better support carers and to improve the support offered by general practitioners. We will also pilot annual health checks for carers;
	up to £38 million to enable carers to be better able to combine paid employment with their caring role through enhanced flexible working and skills training opportunities;
	over £6 million in increased support for young carers in universal services, such as schools, targeted support and whole family support for carers;
	training carers and so enable them both to strengthen them in their caring role and empower them in their dealings with care professionals. We will also train professionals across the board to provide better support for carers; and
	we have made available £1.2 million to help ensure that key partners in the voluntary sector are able to develop their capacity and the capacity of local partners to implement the strategy.
	To help carers who want to work part-time, we have increased the earnings limit in carer's allowance every year since 2001, and it now stands at £95 a week—almost double its pre-2001 level of £50.

Christmas

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Christmas functions  (a) he,  (b) officials from his Department and  (c) officials from its executive agencies (i) hosted and (ii) attended in 2007-08; what the cost to the public purse was; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State attended the following Christmas functions in 2007-08:
	Tuesday 4 December 2007—looked into the Guardian Media Christmas Drinks Reception; and
	Tuesday 11 December 2007—looked into Unite The Union Christmas Parliamentary Reception.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State hosted one Christmas function, a reception for journalists, on 17 December 2007. It was held in the Cathedral room in Richmond House and the cost was £1,079.30.
	The Department does not collect information about the Christmas functions hosted or attended in 2007 or to be hosted or attended in 2008 by officials in the Department or officials in executive agencies and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.

Dental Services: Hemel Hempstead

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists there are per 1,000 people in Hemel Hempstead constituency.

Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested.
	The number of dentists with national health service activity during the years ending 31 March 2007 and 31 March 2008 per 100,000 population is available in Table G1 of Annex 3 of the report NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007-08. Information is available by strategic health authority and by primary care trust. This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements introduced on 1 April 2006.
	Following a recent consultation exercise, this measure is based on a revised methodology and therefore supersedes previously published workforce figures relating to the new dental contractual arrangements. It is not comparable to the information collected under the old contractual arrangements. The revised methodology counts the number of dental performers with NHS activity recorded through FP17 claim forms in each year ending 31 March.
	This report, published on 21 August 2008, has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the website of the Information Centre for health and social care at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dental0708.
	Figures relate to headcounts and do not differentiate between full-time and part-time dentists, nor do they account for the fact that some dentists may do more NHS work than others.

Departmental Civil Service Agencies

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many agencies were sponsored by his Department in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 1997-98.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department sponsored two agencies in 2007-08:
	Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency; and
	NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency
	The Department sponsored four agencies in 1997-98:
	Medical Devices Agency;
	Medicines Control Agency;
	NHS Estates Agency; and
	NHS Pensions Agency

Departmental Manpower

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many full-time equivalent staff there are in each  (a) directorate and  (b) team in his Department, broken down by payband.

Ben Bradshaw: The number of full-time equivalent staff in each directorate are presented in the following tables. The figures are for 30 September 2008. They cover permanent and temporary civil servants, and people on loan or secondment into the Department. Most of the cases where the grade or directorate is unknown relate to secondees in, where our systems do not currently always record this. Information is not held centrally in a way that allows us to provide a team breakdown, and to assemble this information from local records would incur disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Directorate  Administrative officer  Executive officer  Higher executive officer  Senior executive officer  Fast stream  Grade 7 
			 Chief Nursing Officer 3.8 19.5 6.0 15.9 3.0 17.0 
			 Commercial 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 
			 Commissioning and System Management 4.0 29.5 16.0 23.0 9.0 34.2 
			 Communications 2.8 9.4 22.0 30.7 1.0 23.0 
			 Equality and Human Rights 0.0 2.0 1.0 4.0 1.0 2.0 
			 Finance and Operations 46.1 131.7 112.5 94.1 12.0 83.6 
			 Health Improvement and Protection 19.9 34.2 21.7 39.8 6.0 42.7 
			 Office of the Chief Medical Officer 0.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 1.8 
			 Office of the NHS Chief Executive 1.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 
			 NHS Finance, Performance and Operations 8.9 23.0 26.6 32.4 5.4 61.9 
			 NHS Medical 9.0 26.0 26.4 23.1 8.0 48.1 
			 Policy and Strategy 4.0 16.0 15.0 10.0 12.0 25.4 
			 Regional Public Health Groups 8.8 26.2 12.8 16.1 0.0 26.6 
			 Research and Development 0.0 12.5 4.0 7.0 0.0 12.4 
			 Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships 6.0 26.6 12.7 13.8 7.0 36.5 
			 Workforce 4.0 29.1 20.0 27.9 3.0 28.6 
			 Other 2.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 2.7 
			 Grand total 120.3 393.8 301.6 340.7 69.4 452.3 
		
	
	
		
			  Directorate  Grade 6  Senior civil service  Special advisers  Unknown  Total 
			 Chief Nursing Officer 8.8 11.0 0.0 1.0 86.0 
			 Commercial 2.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 8.0 
			 Commissioning and System Management 21.0 27.0 0.0 2.0 165.6 
			 Communications 6.0 5.6 0.0 0.0 100.5 
			 Equality and Human Rights 1.0 0.9 0.0 0.0 11.9 
			 Finance and Operations 38.9 41.8 2.0 3.0 565.7 
			 Health Improvement and Protection 26.4 27.0 0.0 4.0 221.6 
			 Office of the Chief Medical Officer 1.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 14.8 
			 Office of the NHS Chief Executive 1.0 3.0 0.0 2.0 14.0 
			 NHS Finance, Performance and Operations 17.7 18.8 0.0 0.0 194.7 
			 NHS Medical 19.5 18.9 0.0 0.4 179.4 
			 Policy and Strategy 22.8 26.8 0.0 1.0 133.0 
			 Regional Public Health Groups 8.5 22.9 0.0 10.0 132.0 
			 Research and Development 6.8 10.0 0.0 0.0 52.7 
			 Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships 20.3 18.7 0.0 3.0 144.6 
			 Workforce 17.9 14.0 0.0 1.0 145.5 
			 Other 1.8 6.9 0.0 21.0 37.4 
			 Grand total 221.3 257.4 2.0 48.4 2,207.3

Departmental Marketing

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's total spending was on advertising and promotional campaigns in each year since 2006; and what the cost of each campaign was, broken down by costs relating to  (a) television,  (b) radio and  (c) print media.

Ben Bradshaw: The following tables outline the specific costs relating to television, radio and print media for the complete financial years 2005-06 to 2007-08.
	
		
			  Breakdown of campaign expenditure 2005-06 
			  £  million 
			   TV  Radio  Print media 
			 Department of Health Directories Advertising 0 0 0.07 
			 DH Classified Advertising 0 0 0.05 
			 Tobacco Education—Secondhand Smoke 5.29 1.65 0.67 
			 Tobacco Education—Cessation 6.11 0.97 0.74 
			 Tobacco Education—Support 0.55 0 0.85 
			 E111 /EHIC Awareness 0 0 0.91 
			 Flu Immunisation 0.78 0.24 0.60 
			 NHS Classified/Recruitment advertising 0 0 0.13 
			 NHS Careers Recruitment 0 0 0.22 
			 Get the Right Treatment 0 0.24 0.24 
			 Social Work 0 0.39 0.20 
			 Social Care 1.09 0.37 0.36 
			 Antibiotics Campaign 0 0 0.37 
			 Drugs—Frank 0 0.18 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Breakdown of campaign expenditure 2006-07 
			  £  million 
			   TV  Radio  Print media 
			 DH Directory Advertising 0 0 0.06 
			 DH Classified Advertising 0 0 0.07 
			 Tobacco Education—Motivation and Support 4.56 1.5 1.6 
			 Tobacco Education—Secondhand Smoke 2.03 0.40 0.58 
			 Flu Immunisation 0.56 0.04 0.47 
			 Social Work 0 0.49 0.23 
			 Social Care 0.80 0.27 0.52 
			 Drugs - Frank 1.04 0.40 0 
			 Sexual Health/Teenage Pregnancy 1.2 0.36 0.23 
			 Child Immunisation 1.2 0.31 0.21 
			 Hepatitis C 0 0.43 0.09 
			 Tobacco—Smokefree 0 0 0.24 
			 Health and Social Care Awards 0 0 0.04 
			 Healthy Start 0 0 0.01 
			 NHS Careers Graduate Recruitment 0 0 0.05 
		
	
	
		
			  Breakdown of campaign expenditure 2007-08 
			  £  million 
			   TV  Radio  Print Media 
			 DH Directory Advertising 0 0 0.06 
			 DH Classified Advertising 0 0 0.07 
			 Tobacco Cessation (Support) 6.7 1.88 0.09 
			 Tobacco—Smokefree 1.56 0.60 0.60 
			 Flu Immunisation 0.56 0.04 0.31 
			 Social Care 1.09 0,31 0.82 
			 Drugs—Frank 1.04 0.40 0 
			 Sexual Health 1.1 0.54 0.36 
			 Hepatitis C 0 0.71 0.56 
			 NHS Careers Graduate Recruitment 0 0 0.05 
			 NHS Injury Benefits Scheme 0 0 0.40 
			 Antibiotics 0 0 0.39 
			 Respiratory and Hand Hygiene 0 0 0.03 
			 Alcohol Harm 0 0.31 0 
		
	
	These figures reflect media spend invoiced to the Department only. Some campaigns, (e.g. Frank and Alcohol) are paid for jointly by the Department and other Government Departments.

Departmental Mobile Phones

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mobile telephones have been bought by his Department in each of the last five years.

Ben Bradshaw: Vodafone are the supplier of all mobile devices to the Department and the figures in the table are supplied by that organisation. Their records start in 2005 and there is no information source that could specifically identify mobile telephones before that date. The information for 2008 is the figure as at the end of September.
	
		
			   Total number of mobile telephones  Of which: Blackberries 
			 2005 102 0 
			 2006 542 270 
			 2007 622 405 
			 2008 501 349

Departmental NDPBs

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been agreed with each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies for the period 2008 to 2011.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested is only available for the financial year 2008-09 and is shown in the following table. Figures for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have not been agreed yet.
	
		
			  Non-departmental public body  Total (£000) 
			 Healthcare Commission 59,369 
			 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 2,406 
			 Human Tissue Authority 1,346 
			 Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence 2,129 
			 General Social Care Council 10,687 
			 Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board 2,708 
			 Health Protection Agency 168,652 
			 National Institute for Biological Standards and Control 18,600 
			 Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health 804 
			 NHS Appointments Commission 4,115 
			 Commission for Social Care and Inspection 53,750 
			 Total 324,566

Departmental Older Workers

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people aged over  (a) 55 and  (b) 60 years were recruited by his Department in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits.

Ben Bradshaw: Seven people aged over 55 and one person aged over 60 were recruited by the Department in 2007-08. These represented, respectively, 3.7 per cent. and 0.5 per cent. of new recruits.

Departmental Recruitment

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its executive agencies spent on (i) recruitment consultants and (ii) external recruitment advertising to recruit staff in each of the last five financial years; which recruitment consultants were employed for those purposes in each of those years; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Information on the costs of recruitment consultants and external recruitment advertising, and the names of recruitment consultants employed, are provided in the following tables.
	
		
			  Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency 
			  £ 
			   Recruitment consultants  Recruitment advertising 
			 2007-08 206,233 176,935 
			 2006-07 312,874 285,235 
			 2005-06 477,301 142,907 
			 2004-05 195,275 110,511 
			 2003-04 142,485 51,783 
			  Note:  Recruitment consultants employed were Accounting Additions, Armstrong Craven, Blackbridge, Brook Street, Crone Corkill, Crystal, Eames Jones and Judge Hawkings, Elite Associates, Ellwood and Atfield, Euromedia, Fusion IT, Hays, Hudson, Interim Performers, Kelly Services, Michael Page, Odgers Ray and Berndtson, Office Angels, Real IT Resourcing, Resource Innovations, Robert Half International, RSA, SynerGem, and Talentmark. 
		
	
	
		
			  NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency 
			  £ 
			   Recruitment consultants  Recruitment advertising 
			 2007-08 23,847 41,462 
			 2006-07 33,558 30,394 
			 2005-06 58,882 95,002 
			 2004-05 27,183 23,170 
			 2003-04 9,042 26,503 
			  Notes:  Recruitment consultants employed were Capita, Hudson Global, RS Locums and tmp.worldwide. 
		
	
	
		
			  Department of Health 
			  £ 
			   Recruitment consultants  Recruitment advertising 
			 2007-08 (1)243,681 (1)92,044 
			 2006-07 (1)529,853 (1)109,574 
			 2005-06 (1)518,041 (1)309,578 
			 2004-05 n/a n/a 
			 2003-04 n/a n/a 
			 (1 )The figures for 2007-08 and 2006-07 cover staff in senior civil service payband 2 and above, and for 2005-06 cover staff in senior civil service payband 1 and above.  Notes: 1. For the majority of staff in the Department, recruitment costs are paid for locally by the business units that carried out the recruiting, and to gather the information from local sources would incur a disproportionate cost. Information for 2004-05 and 2003-04 is not available.  2. Recruitment consultants employed included Brook Street, Capita, CPG, Credentials Ltd. T/A Step Ahead, Employment Plus, Gatenby Sanderson, Hays, Hudson, Kelly Services, KMC International, KPMG, Odgers Ray and Berndtson, Office Angels, Reed, Russell Reynolds Associates, Saxton Bampfylde, Stopgap Limited, The Principle Partnership (UK) Ltd., TotalNRG, Veredus, Whitehead Mann, and Zygos Partnership.

Departmental Recruitment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many civil servants in his Department were recruited through the fast stream; and what the average salary of those officials is.

Ben Bradshaw: In the year from 1 October 2007 to 30 September 2008, 18 civil servants in the Department were recruited through the fast stream. Their average salary is £26,870.

Departmental Visits Abroad

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many visits he has made abroad since taking up his position; and at what cost.

Ben Bradshaw: The Cabinet Office collates returns for ministerial travel over the value of £500. Alan Johnson joined the Department of Health as Secretary of State in June 2007. The following table shows Cabinet Office data for the Secretary of State's overseas travel for the financial year 2007-08. Collections for the current financial year will be available at its close.
	
		
			  Dates  Minister  Destination  Purpose of Trip  Total cost including travel and accommodation (£) 
			 20-21 November 2007 right hon. Alan Johnson MP Brussels, Belgium Meeting with commissioners 571 
			 9-15 February 2008 right hon. Alan Johnson MP Rio de Janeiro/Sao Paulo, Brazil Health fact finding 7,083

Health Services: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will visit Chorley and Preston hospitals and the new clinical access treatment centre in Chorley.

Ann Keen: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has no current plans to visit.

Health: Greater London

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on developing the Picture of Health for South East London; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: A Picture of Health considers options for the reconfiguration of four acute sites in South East London (Princess Royal University Hospitals Bromley, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, Queen Mary's, Sidcup and University Hospitals, Lewisham).
	As a result, the local Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JOSC) comprising six interested borough councils and Kent county council has indicated its intention to formally refer at least some of the proposals to the Secretary of State.
	A formal referral from Bexley council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee (a contingent of the JOSC) made a formal referral in its own right on 28 August 2008 to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health. In the event the JOSC does not make a formal referral, the Bexley referral will still be considered by the Independent Review Panel.

Inspections

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many inspectors were employed by his Department in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 1997-98.

Ben Bradshaw: In 2007-08, the Department employed no inspectors with statutory powers. Details of the number of inspectors employed by the Department in 1997-98 would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Liver Diseases

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce the incidence of liver disease caused by excessive consumption of alcohol in the UK.

Dawn Primarolo: In June 2007, Safe.Sensible.Social.—The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy (which has already been placed in the Library) updated the 2004 National Alcohol Strategy and has a main aim to reduce drinking that is harmful to health.
	The Department has put in place a new NHS vital signs indicator from April 2008 to measure change in the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol related conditions. Included within this, alcoholic liver disease was responsible for 14,668 hospital admissions in 2006-07. The number of admissions with a primary diagnosis of liver disease more than doubled between 1995-06 and 2006-07.
	We expect that this vital signs indicator will encourage the national health service to identify those drinking above lower risk levels earlier. This approach, linked with advice and support from general practitioners or other healthcare staff, has been shown to be the best way of reducing the kind of 'everyday' harmful drinking that leads to health harm, including liver disease.
	This NHS vital signs indicator is included in the Home Office Public Service agreement to reduce drug and alcohol harm and in the Department of Communities and Local Government list of indicators for local authorities and their partners.
	Since the introduction of this indicator, this year more than 90 primary care trusts have developed plans to reduce alcohol-related admissions.
	In May 2008, the Department launched a campaign on alcohol units and health, with a second burst of adverts running later this year. This campaign highlights how regularly exceeding daily guidelines on drinking increases the risk of liver disease.
	We recognise that there is strong support for developing a national plan for liver disease and we are considering what the national health service needs to do over the next few years in order to address these pressures, and how this should be monitored. We shall announce next steps in due course.

Maternity Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent representations his Department has  (a) received from and  (b) made to local NHS organisations on delays in receiving additional funding for improving maternity care;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Macclesfield of 5 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 783-84W, on maternity services, how much of the £330 million will be available in  (a) the 2008-09 financial year and  (b) each of the next two financial years.

Ann Keen: We have received a recent representation from the Royal College of Midwives. A national newspaper also made representations to finance officers of NHS trusts.
	The £330 million is our national estimate of the total investment primary care trusts (PCTs) need to make over 2008-09 to 2010-11 to support delivery of the Maternity Matters strategy. This is being provided to the national health service as part of their overall PCT allocations. We then use the operating framework to set out our priorities for the NHS—including Maternity Matters. But how best to deliver those priorities, including how much resource to spend on different policy areas in each year, is a matter for the NHS to decide locally in the light of their local circumstances.

Medical Records: Data Protection

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place to protect patient records from data loss from  (a) hospitals,  (b) primary care trusts and  (c) mental health trusts.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) on 15 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 354-55W.

MRSA: Hertfordshire

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients contracted MRSA in hospitals in West Hertfordshire in the last five years.

Ann Keen: The latest information available on the number of cases of Methicillin-Resistant  Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) by West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of reports to the HPA  MRSA rate per 10,000 bed days 
			 April 2003 to March 2004 45 1.9 
			 April 2007 to September 2007 37 1.8 
			 October 2007 to March 2008 15 1.2 
			 April 2008 to June 2008 4 0.7

NHS Identity: Manpower

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in his Department are working on the NHS Identity, broken down by payband.

Ben Bradshaw: Three members of staff work on the NHS Identity at the following paybands: Grade 7, senior information officer and information officer.

NHS: Drugs

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on which dates officials or Ministers in his Department met representatives of the pharmaceutical industry in the last six months to discuss  (a) the recent increase in the practice of parallel trading and  (b) a potential shortage of medicine stocks in the run-up to the introduction of the new drug-pricing regime in January 2009; and if he will place in the Library copies of the agenda and minutes of each meeting.

Dawn Primarolo: No meetings to discuss parallel trading have taken place. The availability of medicines in the run up to the introduction of the new Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme has been discussed as part of the confidential negotiations currently underway between the Government and the pharmaceutical industry. It would not be appropriate to release information on these confidential discussions.

NHS: Pensions

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications of the deficit in the National Health Service Contributory Pension Fund.

Ann Keen: The NHS Pension Scheme is unfunded, so when benefits fall due for payment they are met from Government revenues. There is no actual pension fund or deficit. However, in any particular year, income from contributions from employers and employees is used to offset the costs of paying benefits to pensioners.

NHS: Public Participation

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which Local Involvement Networks have been established but are not yet operational.

Ann Keen: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Ophthalmology: Hemel Hempstead

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many opticians there are per 1,000 people in Hemel Hempstead constituency.

Ann Keen: The information is not held centrally. The Information Centre for health and social care will publish the number of General Ophthalmic Services ophthalmic practitioners per 100,000 population, as at 31 December 2007, in the report General Ophthalmic Services: Workforce Statistics for England and Wales, 31 December 2007. It is expected that the report will be published in November 2008, with information available by primary care trust and strategic health authority.

Primary Care Trusts

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list primary care trusts in the order of level of deprivation of the community each serves.

Dawn Primarolo: The Indices of Deprivation 2007 are the Government's official measure of multiple deprivation at small area level. The Index of Multiple Deprivation brings together 37 different indicators which cover specific aspects or dimensions of deprivation, covering income, employment, health and disability, education, training and skills, barriers to housing and services, crime and living environment.
	The Index of Multiple Deprivation is a relative measure of deprivation and therefore cannot be used to say 'how much' more deprived area X is than area Y, though it can be used to say that area X is more deprived than area Y.
	The following primary care trusts (PCTs) are listed according to the rank order given by the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007.
	1. Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT
	2. Liverpool PCT
	3. City and Hackney Teaching PCT
	4. Tower Hamlets PCT
	5. Manchester PCT
	6. Knowsley PCT
	7. Newham PCT
	8. Islington PCT
	9. Middlesbrough PCT
	10. Birmingham East and North PCT
	11. Hull Teaching PCT
	12. Blackpool PCT
	13. Nottingham City PCT
	14. Sandwell PCT
	15. Salford PCT
	16. Blackburn with Darwen PCT
	17. Haringey Teaching PCT
	18. Stoke on Trent PCT
	19. Lambeth PCT
	20. Leicester City PCT
	21. Barking and Dagenham PCT
	22. Hartlepool PCT
	23. Greenwich Teaching PCT
	24. Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT
	25. Southwark PCT
	26. Waltham Forest PCT
	27. Wolverhampton City PCT
	28. Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT
	29. Sunderland Teaching PCT
	30. Newcastle PCT
	31. South Tyneside PCT
	32. Lewisham PCT
	33. Halton and St Helens PCT
	34. South Birmingham PCT
	35. Doncaster PCT
	36. Oldham PCT
	37. Barnsley PCT
	38. Walsall Teaching PCT
	39. Redcar and Cleveland PCT
	40. Bolton PCT
	41. Gateshead PCT
	42. Brent Teaching PCT
	43. North East Lincolnshire PCT
	44. Camden PCT
	45. Hammersmith and Fulham PCT
	46. Wirral PCT
	47. Coventry Teaching PCT
	48. Sheffield PCT
	49. Bristol PCT
	50. East Lancashire Teaching PCT
	51. Tameside and Glossop PCT
	52. County Durham PCT
	53. Wakefield District PCT
	54. Ashton, Leigh and Wigan PCT
	55. Rotherham PCT
	56. Derby City PCT
	57. Torbay PCT
	58. Westminster PCT
	59. Enfield PCT
	60. Plymouth Teaching PCT
	61. Brighton and Hove City PCT
	62. Kirklees PCT
	63. Sefton PCT
	64. Ealing PCT
	65. Leeds PCT
	66. Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT
	67. Hastings and Rother PCT
	68. Luton PCT
	69. Peterborough PCT
	70. Southampton City PCT
	71. Portsmouth City Teaching PCT
	72. Darlington PCT
	73. Bassetlaw PCT
	74. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly PCT
	75. North Tees Teaching PCT
	76. Dudley PCT
	77. Kensington and Chelsea PCT
	78. North Tyneside PCT
	79. Hounslow PCT
	80. Calderdale PCT
	81. Telford and Wrekin PCT
	82. North Lincolnshire PCT
	83. Bury PCT
	84. Croydon PCT
	85. Cumbria Teaching PCT
	86. Barnet PCT
	87. Northumberland PCT
	88. Central Lancashire PCT
	89. Isle of Wight National Health Service PCT
	90. Redbridge PCT
	91. Wandsworth PCT
	92. Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT
	93. Medway PCT
	94. Bournemouth and Poole Teaching PCT
	95. Derbyshire County PCT
	96. South West Essex PCT
	97. Nottinghamshire County Teaching PCT
	98. North East Essex PCT
	99. Hillingdon PCT
	100. North Lancashire Teaching PCT
	101. North Staffordshire PCT
	102. Stockport PCT
	103. Lincolnshire Teaching PCT
	104. Warrington PCT
	105. Herefordshire PCT
	106. Devon PCT
	107. Trafford PCT
	108. Norfolk PCT
	109. Western Cheshire PCT
	110. South East Essex PCT
	111. Swindon PCT
	112. Shropshire County PCT
	113. Bexley PCT
	114. Solihull PCT
	115. Havering PCT
	116. Northamptonshire Teaching PCT
	117. Somerset PCT
	118. Harrow PCT
	119. South Staffordshire PCT
	120. East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT
	121. Worcestershire PCT
	122. Milton Keynes PCT
	123. North Somerset PCT
	124. Gloucestershire PCT
	125. Warwickshire PCT
	126. West Essex PCT
	127. Bromley PCT
	128. Sutton and Merton PCT
	129. Dorset PCT
	130. East Riding of Yorkshire PCT
	131. Suffolk PCT
	132. Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT
	133. West Kent PCT
	134. North Yorkshire and York PCT
	135. West Sussex PCT
	136. Kingston PCT
	137. Berkshire East PCT
	138. East and North Hertfordshire PCT
	139. Bedfordshire PCT
	140. Cambridgeshire PCT
	141. Bath and North East Somerset PCT
	142. Mid Essex PCT
	143. West Hertfordshire PCT
	144. Oxfordshire PCT
	145. Berkshire West PCT
	146. Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT
	147. Hampshire PCT
	148. Wiltshire PCT
	149. South Gloucestershire PCT
	150. Richmond and Twickenham PCT
	151. Buckinghamshire PCT
	152. Surrey PCT
	 Note
	The ranking is from most to least deprived IMD score, using the average of the scores for each component index of deprivation.
	 Source
	Index of Multiple Deprivation, Department of Communities and Local Government website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/communities/neighbourhoodrenewal/deprivation/deprivation07/

Social Workers: Manpower

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many social workers per head of the population  (a) there were in 2007 and  (b) there are in 2008.

Ann Keen: The NHS Information Centre for health and social care collect and publish data relating to the number of social workers directly employed by social services departments within councils.
	The most recently published figures for the number of whole-time equivalent social workers per 100,000 head of population was 87.6 in 2007 and 86.5 in 2006.
	Data for 2008 are expected to be published in spring 2009.

Surgery

David Clelland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many out of areas referrals were made by the Gateshead and South Tyneside Primary Care Trust because the surgery options sought by the patient were provided by a neighbouring primary care trust rather than Gateshead Primary Care Trust in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008 to date.

Ben Bradshaw: This information is not held centrally.

Translation Services

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the value is of contracts awarded to K International by his Department for translation services in each year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what use NHS Direct makes of the services provided by K International set out in Government contract 05/GEN/25 on translation and interpretation provision;
	(3)  which  (a) bodies within his Department and  (b) NHS trusts use the translation and interpretation services set out in Government contract 05/GEN/25; and what the total cost is of these contracts.

Ben Bradshaw: The net amount paid to K International by the Department between April 2004 and July 2008 was £78,504.92.
	NHS Direct does not make use of the services provided by K International under the terms of Government contract 05/GEN/25 on translation and interpretation provision.
	Information on which national health service trusts use the translation and interpretation services set out in the contract is not held centrally.

West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust: Cleaning Services

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust spent on cleaning in the latest period for which information is available.

Ben Bradshaw: The annual Estates Related Information Collection reported £2,524,134 as West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust's cleaning services costs in 2006-07. Further information can be obtained via the following Hospital Estates and Facilities Statistics website:
	www.hefsa.ic.nhs.uk

West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust: Parking

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much revenue was raised by West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust in car parking fees in the latest period for which information is available.

Ben Bradshaw: In its annual report for 2007-08, published on 30 September 2008 and available on the trust website at:
	http://www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk/annualreport/0708/default.asp
	West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust reported that approximately £634,000 of income was generated by car parking charges for the financial year. No income was reported as income through the annual Estates Related Information Collection for car parking for staff and visitors at this trust in 2006-07.

West Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust: General Practitioners

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many general practitioner practices there are in the West Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust area;
	(2)  how many  (a) nurses and  (b) allied health professionals work in general practitioner practices in primary care trusts in Hertfordshire.

Ann Keen: Information on the number of nurses and general practitioner (GP) practices can be found in the following table. However, information on allied healthcare professionals is not held centrally.
	
		
			  GP practices and practice nurses by East and North Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and West Hertfordshire PCT, as at 30 September 2007 
			   GP practices  Practice nurses 
			 East and North Hertfordshire PCT 61 203 
			 West Hertfordshire PCT 69 209 
			  Note: The annual GP Census collection does not collect data broken down by allied health professionals working within GP practices.  Data quality: Work force statistics are compiled from data sent by more than 300 national health service trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data.  Processing methods and procedures are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where this happens any impact on figures already published will be assessed but unless this is significant at national level they will not be changed. Where there is impact only at detailed or local level this will be footnoted in relevant analyses.  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care General and Personal Medical Services Statistics.

West Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust: Midwives

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwives were employed by West Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust  (a) in 1997 and  (b) at the latest date for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: Midwives are employed by trusts, not by primary care trusts (PCTs), and therefore the following table shows NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified Midwifery staff in the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust as at 30 September each specified year.
	
		
			  West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust 
			   Headcount 
			 1997 221 
			 2007 176 
			  Note: In April 2000 Mount Vernon and Watford Hospitals NHS Trust and St. Albans and Hemel Hempstead NHS Trust merged to form West Hertfordshire NHS Trust.  Data quality: Work force statistics are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and PCTs in England. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data. Processing methods and procedures are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where this happens any impact on figures already published will be assessed but unless this is significant at national level they will not be changed. Where there is impact only at detailed or local level this will be footnoted in relevant analyses.  Source: The NHS Information Centre Non Medical Workforce Census

Dietary Supplements: EU Law

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when he last met manufacturers of food supplements to discuss the impact upon their businesses of the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements; when he plans to have further discussions with them; what progress has been made in securing the Government's objectives for the interpretation and implementation of the Food Supplements Directive; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether Member States were consulted by the European Commission on the impact assessment of different options for the maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals under the Food Supplements Directive; and what assessment the Food Standards Agency has made of the impact of each of those options upon  (a) specialist manufacturers,  (b) specialist retailers and  (c) consumer choice;
	(3)  if he will set out the timetable for the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive;
	(4)  what discussions he has had with the Government of  (a) Jersey and  (b) Guernsey on the implementation of the Food Supplements Directive and European medicines law; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The interests of United Kingdom manufacturers of specialist food supplements are being represented as part of working group discussions and bilateral meetings between the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and their counterparts in other member states.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been running an extensive programme to manage the regulatory impact of the traditional herbal registration scheme. This programme, which includes individual company meetings held free of charge to help companies progress their plans to register products, is contributing to the steady expansion in the number of applications made and registrations granted under the scheme in the United Kingdom. Where companies have acquired successful experience of the scheme, they may wish to take up opportunities to submit applications to register products in other member states of the European Union.
	There are no current plans for Health Ministers to meet with the food supplements industry. The FSA meets regularly with the food supplements industry to discuss issues relating to food supplements, including the work on setting maximum levels.
	We have been advised by the FSA that member states were not consulted by the European Commission before the commencement of the Commission's impact assessment exercise in summer 2008. The FSA has met with the contractor appointed by the European Commission to carry out the work and provided details of United Kingdom stakeholders who could provide the data on the food supplements which are currently being marketed.
	The FSA has not made an assessment of the options put forward in the European Commission's impact assessment exercise and their impact on specialist manufacturers and retailers and consumer choice. An assessment of the likely impact will be made when the specific levels being proposed by the European Commission are available. These will be set out in European Commission proposals, which are currently expected in January 2009, on which the FSA will consult fully.
	In advance of the Commission publishing its proposals, an ad hoc technical working group comprising a small number of member states has been established which met for the first time on 15 October 2008. A further technical working group meeting has been suggested for late November 2008 and it is envisaged that the outputs of these meetings will then be reported back to all member states at a full working group meeting, a date for which is yet to be advised.
	A meeting was held on 11 April 2008 between officials from the Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man Governments and those of the FSA, MHRA and Ministry of Justice. Officials representing the Government of Jersey indicated that a major update of food safety legislation was under way in Jersey and that both the Food Supplements Directive and the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation are to be implemented as part of this exercise. Discussions at official level regarding the implementation of the legislation in Guernsey are ongoing.
	The MHRA has written to the Government of Jersey to begin discussions with them on the implementation of the Medicines Directive 2001/83/EC. During 2007 and 2008, the MHRA has had written discussions and a series of meetings with the Government of Guernsey over the implementation of the Medicines Directive. The MHRA believes that Guernsey's proposed medicines law will receive Royal Assent in the near future. The MHRA will continue to assist the Government of Guernsey in the development of the additional legislation required for implementation of the Medicines Directive.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Africa: Asylum

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recommendations in the UN High Commissioner for Refugees report on camps in the occupied territories of the Western Sahara and Algeria.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is not aware of a recent report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Western Sahara or the camps in Western Sahara and Algeria. However my hon. Friend may be interested to learn that the high commissioner is considering visiting the region early next year.
	The UK strongly supports UNHCR's activities in Western Sahara as elsewhere. The UK continues to believe that the resolution of humanitarian questions should not await the conclusion of a political settlement. The UK, along with EU partners, has called on Morocco and the Polisario to deal with outstanding human rights issues and implement measures that will increase people's confidence.

Burma: Political Prisoners

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to seek to secure the release of political prisoners in Burma in the last 12 months.

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the government of Burma on the detention of opposition parliamentarians.

Bill Rammell: Over the last 12 months my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers have raised the need for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Burma on many occasions with key countries in the region including China, India, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Our ambassador in Rangoon has also repeatedly raised the issue with ministers in the military Government. In October 2007 we helped to secure unprecedented UN Security Council action on Burma, which included a clear demand for the early release of political prisoners. This demand was reaffirmed by the UN Security Council in May under UK chairmanship. We continue to support the UN Secretary-General's efforts to work on the release of prisoners. The EU has also made its position clear, and with strong UK support, strengthened sanctions against the regime in response to the brutal crackdown on peaceful protests last autumn, when many political activists were detained. Our embassy in Rangoon continues to inquire about specific cases with political prisoner support networks and those non-governmental organisations concerned with prisoner welfare.
	While we welcome the release during September of a small number of political prisoners, it is important to remember that arbitrary arrests continue, and more than 2,000 political prisoners remain in detention.

Burma: Politics and Government

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the political and humanitarian situation in Burma; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The military regime is determined to maintain its hold on power regardless of the cost and suffering of the people of Burma. The junta's 'Roadmap to disciplined democracy', including a new constitution and elections planned for 2010, is designed to entrench military rule behind a facade of civilian government. The process excludes the opposition and meaningful participation by the ethnic groups. Fundamental rights are consistently ignored. Over 2,000 political prisoners remain in detention, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and other pro-democracy leaders. Ethnic minority groups have been methodically marginalised. Against this backdrop, we will continue to do all we can to generate international pressure for a peaceful transition to democracy and respect for human rights in Burma. In particular, we will continue to give our full support to the UN Secretary-General and his efforts to break the current deadlock.
	The humanitarian situation is of serious concern across the country. One third of the country's population lives on less than one third of a dollar a day, 10 per cent. do not have enough to eat, half of Burma's 20 million children do not complete primary school, and 70 per cent. of the population is at risk from malaria. The protests of August and September 2007 were sparked by this ever increasing poverty, and people's deep frustration with the economic and political failures of the Burmese regime. Relief aid for those affected by Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma in May, is now getting through with greater co-operation from the Burmese regime than it showed in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. However, as many as 300,000 people remain highly vulnerable. The UK is committed to supporting the post-Cyclone Nargis relief effort and remains the biggest bilateral donor, contributing £45 million. UK aid for Cyclone Nargis is delivered through the UN, Red Cross and international and local non-governmental organisations to ensure that relief supplies are properly distributed to cyclone victims and do not benefit the regime.

Burma: Politics and Government

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received of a military escalation in Karen state, Eastern Burma; and what steps his Department plans to take to seek to prevent military action against civilians there.

Bill Rammell: Our embassy staff in Rangoon are not granted direct access to Karen State to confirm reports of increased military activity but there is a history of fighting between the Burmese military and Karen groups. This only increases the humanitarian crisis facing the thousands of displaced people living near or on the Thai-Burma border.
	The continued violence in Karen state is regrettable and highlights the need for a comprehensive and just settlement of Burma's ethnic conflicts. Stability and territorial integrity are important to all nations and the continued neglect of the needs of the people of Burma by the regime is at the root cause of conflict in many parts of the country. We regularly emphasise to the Burmese regime, and to countries in the region, the need for the full and fair participation of ethnic nationalities in the political process as key to a durable solution to Burma's problems. There can be little prospect of national reconciliation without genuine recognition of their political, economic and social rights.

Colombia: Human Rights

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations the Government has made to the Colombian Government on attacks on human rights defenders.

Gillian Merron: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary stressed the UK's support for the work of civil society organisations and human rights defenders to the Colombian Foreign Minister when they met in London on 9 October, which I reiterated when I spoke to the Colombian Foreign Minister on 16 October.
	We have repeatedly made clear to the Colombian Government that human rights defenders' work should be protected and promoted. We have done so publicly, with my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Dr. Howells) commenting as the Minister of State with responsibility for South America in April 2008:
	"The situation for trade unionists, human rights defenders and indeed other Colombians continues to be very serious, I call on the Colombian Government to do its utmost to ensure that the brave people of Colombia striving for the protection of human rights are allowed to do their vital work safely and without fear, and that the perpetrators of threats, violence and murder are pursued and held accountable for their actions, whoever they are."
	We are matching this advocacy with practical help, through assistance to help strengthen civil society organisations and the role they play in democracy, and raising cases with the authorities to ensure that swift action is taken and justice is seen to be done.

Cuba: Prisoners

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience currently held in custody in Cuba.

Gillian Merron: The Cuban Government retains tight control over information about their prisons. It is therefore difficult to put an exact figure on the number of political prisoners. Four prisoners of conscience were conditionally released during 2007 and subsequently exiled to Spain. However, Amnesty International consider, in their latest 2008 report, that there are at least 62 prisoners of conscience currently in Cuba.
	In January 2008 the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, an unofficial source of human rights information inside Cuba, counted 234 cases of political prisoners. In the Commission's August report, it notes an overall decline in numbers of political prisoners but an increase in temporary detentions and harassment against dissidents. This is consistent with reporting we have received from our embassy in Havana.

Departmental Procurement

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the names and addresses of each organisation that supplied goods and services to his Department in 2007-08, based on the purchase order data held in the Department's financial database.

Gillian Merron: Information about some organisations, that have supplied goods or services to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, cannot be released for reasons of security. It is not possible to produce a sanitised version of this information without incurring a disproportionate cost.

Diplomatic Service

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the  (a) cost,  (b) print run and  (c) distribution of the Diplomatic Service List was in the last financial year before its discontinuation.

Gillian Merron: The Diplomatic Service List was last published by The Stationery Office in 2006. They met all production costs for a print run of 2,200 copies. Of these, 1,020 copies were purchased by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, at a discounted cost of £18,400. The Stationery Office sold the balance to other Whitehall Departments and the public; typical customers including local councils, reference and public libraries, parliamentarians and researchers.
	Staff costs, incurred by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, totalled one full time member of staff, to manage the information in a dedicated database, and short-term limited contributions from three staff during the annual collation process.

Georgia: Peacekeeping Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British citizens are participating in the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia.

Caroline Flint: 22 British citizens have been selected to participate in the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia. 19 of them are already in Georgia performing monitoring duties with the Mission. The remaining three are due to deploy to Georgia shortly in order to take up posts in the Mission's headquarters.

Hezbollah

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government have had discussions with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Bill Rammell: The UK has not had contacts with Hezbollah since 2005. We keep our policy on contact with Hezbollah under close review.
	Our objective with Hezbollah remains to encourage them to move away from violence and play a constructive and peaceful role in Lebanese politics.
	The UK proscribed Hezbollah's External Security Organisation in 2001 and in July 2008 that proscription was extended to the entire military wing of Hezbollah. We did not proscribe its political wing.

India: Terrorism

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Indian Government on terrorism  (a) in India and  (b) internationally; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The UK has a wide-ranging and constructive relationship with the Indian Government on countering terrorism, both in India and internationally. UK Ministers regularly discuss the issue with their Indian counterparts, most recently on 26 September when my right Hon. Friend the Prime Minister met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New York, and on 15 September when my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice, met Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil in New Delhi. The Government condemn acts of terrorism wherever they occur, including those which have taken place in India over recent months. We are committed to working with the Indian Government to reduce the terrorist threat posed to both our countries.

Malta: Elections

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on concerns about the recent elections in Malta; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The general election in Malta took place on 8 March. We have no reason to believe it was conducted other than in accordance with European standards and democratic principles.

Malta: Elections

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent elections in Malta; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The general election in Malta took place on 8 March. We understand the elections to have been free, fair and in accordance with European standards and democratic principles.

Nuclear Weapons

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterparts in  (a) the United States and  (b) Russia on the respective proposals in each country to modernise their nuclear weapons programme and the compatibility of such modernisation with obligations under Article VI of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Bill Rammell: We regularly discuss with the United States and Russia the importance of action to reinforce the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, including through demonstration of our commitment to Article VI. Under their bilateral strategic arms control arrangements, by 2012 both countries will have reduced their total stockpiles of strategic nuclear warheads by around 80 per cent. since the end of the cold war. We have welcomed that progress, and encouraged both countries to reduce their nuclear arsenals even further in due course.

Overseas Residence: Death

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance his Department provides for British nationals seeking information on relatives who have died abroad.

Gillian Merron: Information on the assistance the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provides to bereaved relatives is set out in our booklet "Guide for Bereaved Families" and a leaflet on "Death Overseas", which is available in hard copy or at the following FCO website addresses.
	 Guide:
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/2855621/bereaved-families
	 Leaflet:
	http ://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/2855621 /death-overseas

Pakistan: Human Rights

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Pakistan on the murder of members of the Ahmadiyya community.

Bill Rammell: We have not discussed the murder of these two members of the Ahmadiyya community with the Government of Pakistan, but we have made joint representations with our EU partners to the Government of Pakistan about the discrimination to which the Ahmadiyya community is subjected.
	We are aware that the Sindh Minister for Information will be conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding these murders and our High Commission in Islamabad will follow its progress.

Radovan Karadzic

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his United States counterpart on the allegations made by Radovan Karadzic regarding an agreement with the US to afford him immunity from arrest; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: No discussions have taken place with the US Government on allegations by Radovan Karadzic that the US offered him immunity from arrest. The US Department of State issued a statement on 31 July in response to these allegations, available on its website:
	www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/07/107615.htm.
	The UK strongly supports the efforts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to complete its mandate by prosecuting those alleged to be most responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia, such as Radovan Karadzic.
	We continue to urge all States, particularly those of the former Yugoslavia, to fully co-operate with the Tribunal so that the remaining fugitive indictees, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, can be apprehended and made to face international justice as soon as possible.

Russia: Missiles

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 7 October 2008,  Official Report, column 607W, on Russia: missiles, what discussions he has had with his  (a) European and  (b) NATO counterparts on the test-firing by Russia of the RS-12M Topol missile on 27 August 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no discussions with either European or North Atlantic Treaty Organisation counterparts.
	We discuss missile related issues with Russia in the context of the Hague Code of Conduct and the missile technology control regime.

Tibet: Politics and Government

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on Tibet's right to national self-determination; and what recent steps he has taken in pursuing that policy.

Bill Rammell: Successive Governments have regarded Tibet as autonomous while recognising the special position of the Chinese authorities there. We have consistently informed the Chinese Government of our view that greater autonomy should be granted to the Tibetans. But like all other EU members, we do not support Tibetan independence.
	We have emphasised that the current political difficulties in Tibet can best be resolved through dialogue between the Chinese Government and the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama has stated publicly that he opposes violence and does not seek independence, but greater autonomy for Tibet. We consider that this provides a basis for a negotiated settlement to the issue of Tibet.
	My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister had talks with both Premier Wen and President Hu while in China for the Olympic games. He reiterated our desire that the next round of the dialogue between the Chinese Government and representatives of the Dalai Lama should take place in a constructive manner and produce positive outcomes.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration has been given to the status of the Western Sahara as part of the discussions on Morocco's status with the EU.

Bill Rammell: The issue of Western Sahara, while not discussed within the context of Advanced Status, remains an integral part of the political dialogue between the EU and Morocco. Western Sahara was discussed during the EU-Morocco Association Council on 13 October. At the meeting the EU regretted the lack of progress on Western Sahara and reaffirmed that the next personal envoy of the UN Secretary General must resume and continue the work of their predecessor. The EU further stated that UN Security Council resolution 1813 provided an appropriate framework for future discussions within the UN and called for every effort possible to resolve this long-standing conflict.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the account taken by the European Commission of non-recognition of Morocco's claim to the Western Sahara in its conclusion of the Association Agreement with Morocco.

Bill Rammell: There is no reference made in the EU-Morocco Association Agreement to the non-recognition of Morocco's claim to Western Sahara. The EU and Morocco do and will continue to discuss Western Sahara during their political dialogue.

SCOTLAND

Departmental ICT

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what IT projects his Department is undertaking; and what the most recent estimate of  (a) the cost and  (b) the completion date of each is.

Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office shares an information technology system (SCOTS) with the Scottish Executive, which is responsible for the development, administration and maintenance of the system; consequently, the Office does not directly undertake IT projects.

Departmental Internet

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many visits to his departmental website have been recorded from computers outside his Department and the parliamentary estate since May 2007.

Ann McKechin: Information on visits to the departmental website from outside the Department and the parliamentary estate is not available. The Scotland Office website:
	www.scotlandoffice.gov.uk
	has received a total of 179,147 visits since May 2007, from 72,957 unique visitors.

Departmental Pensions

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many civil servants working in his Department have pensions with a cash equivalent transfer value of over £1 million.

Ann McKechin: It is not appropriate to disclose pension information for civil servants other than board members and senior managers whose details are shown in the Remuneration Report in the Ministry of Justice's Annual Resource Accounts; a copy of these accounts for financial year 2007-08 can be found in the House Library or accessed electronically using the following link:
	http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc0708/hc08/0869/0869.asp.

OLYMPICS

Departmental Marketing

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what assessment she has made of the cost effectiveness of Government-commissioned advertising in the last 12 months relating to matters falling within her responsibilities.

Tessa Jowell: In the last 12 months, the Government Olympic Executive has commissioned only recruitment advertising, to which we have had a positive response, and a small amount of advertising to promote three regional "London 2012: Ask the Team" public question time events, all of which generated a good level of interest.

Departmental Older Workers

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many people aged over  (a) 55 and  (b) 60 years were recruited to work in her Office in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits.

Tessa Jowell: One person aged over 55 years has been recruited to work in the Minister for the Olympics office. This represents 11 per cent. of new recruits.

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many and what proportion of written questions for answer on a named day she has answered on the due date in the current session of Parliament to date.

Tessa Jowell: The number of named day written questions answered on the named day in the current parliamentary session by me as Minister for the Olympics is 41 (56.9 per cent.).

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental NDPBs

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding has been agreed with each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies for the period 2008 to 2011.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister of State my hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage (Barbara Follett) to the hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mr. Hunt) on 14 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 1196-97W.

Departmental Older Workers

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people aged over  (a) 55 and  (b) 60 years of age were recruited by his Department in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There were no new recruits aged over 55 or 60 years of age to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2007-08. A total of 10 new entrants below this age were recruited to the Department during this period.

Departmental Recruitment

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much  (a) his Department and  (b) Sport England spent on advertising appointments in each of the last five years.

Andy Burnham: The costs incurred on advertising for ministerial appointments to Sport England were as follows:
	
		
			   Total excluding VAT (£) 
			  Financial year  DCMS  Sport England 
			 2004-05 0 0 
			 2005-06 0 0 
			 2006-07 13,253 7,770 
			 2007-08 7,669 11,689 
			 2008-to date 8,297 —

Film: Hearing Impaired

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what guidance his Department has issued on the subtitling of films in cinemas for the benefit of people who are deaf including those shown out of school hours for children who are deaf.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 14 October 2008
	 Although the Government do not publish guidelines on the subtitling of films in cinemas, in February 2007 the UK film industry published its own guidance.
	In addition, the UK Film Council (UKFC), the Government's strategic agency for film, has developed and pursued policies to improve access to the cinema for people of all ages with sensory impairments.
	For example, it is a requirement that all feature films receiving UKFC lottery funds supply appropriate formats to enable them to be shown in cinemas in accessible formats. The UKFC has supplied digital projection equipment to 240 screens in the UK via the Digital Screen network project, enabling cinemas to show subtitled films.
	The first ever UK-wide Film Education Strategy was launched in June this year. Film education—as defined in the strategy—is about making films more accessible to children and young people. The UK Film Council has emphasised the need for the implementation of that strategy to go forward with full regard of the needs of all children, with respect of their accessibility needs.

Performing Arts: Animal Welfare

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the welfare standards applicable to animals used in the performance and arts industries.

Barbara Follett: Officials from DCMS and DEFRA recently met representatives from the film industry and the RSPCA to discuss welfare standards in the industry. The view of both the industry and the RSPCA is that high welfare standards already exist and that government regulation would not be appropriate. Government and industry are currently reviewing the voluntary codes of practice that welfare bodies have prepared for the industry. In addition DEFRA are currently considering the feasibility of introducing regulations to protect the welfare of wild animals used in travelling circuses.

Swimming

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what  (a) funding his Department has allocated to and  (b) discussions his Department has had with (i) the Amateur Swimming Association, (ii) the Royal Life Saving Association, (iii) the swimming and water safety website, (iv) the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents, (v) the Institute of Swimming Teachers and Coaches, (vi) the British Swimming Coaches and Teachers' Association, (vii) the Swimming Teachers' Association and (viii) any other swimming organisations in relation to (A) teaching people to swim and (B) coaching competitive swimmers in each of the last 10 years.

Andy Burnham: My Department keeps in regular contact with various bodies to increase participation levels in swimming and promote the coaching of competitive swimmers. A list of these meetings could be assembled only at disproportionate cost.
	Sport England has advised that the following funding was allocated to the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) and other swimming organisations in each of the last 10 years. However, to extract information pertaining to teaching people to swim and coaching competitive swimmers could be provided only at disproportionate cost:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Amateur Swimming Association  Other bodies 
			  Financial year  Lottery  Exchequer  Lottery  Exchequer 
			 1997-98 0 0 0 0 
			 1998-99 0 0 0 0 
			 1999-2000 0 0 0 0 
			 2000-01 2,348,698 0 0 0 
			 2001-02 217,84 0 0 0 
			 2002-03 16,292,070 50,000 0 0 
			 2003-04 295,157 0 8,250 0 
			 2004-05 924,279 0 0 0 
			 2005-06 149,293 216,000 38,082 0 
			 2006-07 0 0 0 0 
			 2007-08 3,099,008 0 0 76,000 
		
	
	Sport England has no record of providing awards to the following bodies or projects in respect of teaching people to swim or coaching of competitive swimmers:
	Royal Life Saving Association, the swimming and water safety website, Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents, Institute of Swimming Teachers and Coaches, British Swimming Coaches and Teachers' Association, Swimming Teachers' Association.
	Sport England has provided awards to support Community Sports Coaches (CSCs) in a number of sports over the period 2005-09. It is not possible to identify the exact amount of investment to swimming as many awards will be for coaches working across more than one sport. However, Sport England estimates that a total investment of more than £1.1 million will have benefited swimming coaching. CSCs will normally provide coaching to non-competitive swimmers, and their work may include introductory and taster sessions for new swimmers.
	The lottery awards to the ASA include an award of £3,020,437 for the ASA Club and Coach Programme 2007-10. This supports the establishment of talent pathways, including the provision of coaching for swimmers at grass roots level.
	UK Sport has funded elite swimming competitors over the same period, but to disaggregate the element spent on coaching could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Swimming

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding his Department has allocated  (a) to swimming and  (b) to elite and competitive swimming in each of the last 10 years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Sport England has advised that the following funding has been allocated to swimming in each of the last 10 years:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Swimming (overall figure)  Elite and competitive swimming (figures included in overall figure for swimming) 
			  Financial year  Exchequer  Lottery  Exchequer  Lottery 
			 1997-98 (1)— 55,700,872 (1)— 21,869,600 
			 1998-99 323,500 56,082,875 0 0 
			 1999-2000 320,000 25,154,681 0 112,237 
			 2000-01 340,000 22,192,764 0 8,941,360 
			 2001-02 340,000 29,920,415 0 1,957,905 
			 2002-03 343,660 36,331,316 0 16,688,438 
			 2003-04 449,333 21,561,774 0 1,748,831 
			 2004-05 688,000 18,987,199 0 3,194,768 
			 2005-06 701,000 11,801,663 0 149,293 
			 2006-07 947,891 6,640,736 0 0 
			 2007-08 856,192 11,155,462 0 0 
			 (1) No records 
		
	
	UK Sport has advised that the following funding has been allocated to the world class swimming programme in each of the last 10 years:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Elite and competitive swimming (figures included in overall figure for swimming)  
			  Financial year  Exchequer  Lottery  Lottery (events) 
			 1997-98 143,500 2,011,299 — 
			 1998-99 260,000 2,725,201 — 
			 1999-2000 195,000 3,356,484 — 
			 2000-01 170,000 3,251,651 — 
			 2001-02 195,000 2,985,964 1,610 
			 2002-03 245,000 3,079,250 35,000 
			 2003-04 299,610 3,103,124 60,000 
			 2004-05 1,335,175 2,267,760 7,500 
			 2005-06 334,200 3,289,969 — 
			 2006-07 2,572,688 5,552,757 — 
			 2007-08 3,187,243 5,370,196 207,000

WORK AND PENSIONS

Children: Maintenance

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Child Support Agency cases under  (a) the old and  (b) the new scheme are open.

Kitty Ussher: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency cases under (a) the old and (b) the new scheme are open.
	At the end of June 2008 the Agency had 697,000 current scheme and 658,700 old scheme cases. This includes cases awaiting assessment.
	Information on the number of cases currently handled by the Agency, split by scheme is routinely published in Table 1 of the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics (QSS). The latest version is available in the House of Commons library or online at the following link:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/child_support/csa_quarterly_jun08.asp
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Departmental Cleaning Services

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what contracts his Department has with cleaning services providers; and what the hourly rate of pay for cleaners working in his Department is.

Tony McNulty: The Department has a contract with Land Securities Trillium (LST) for the provision of fully fitted and serviced accommodation, including cleaning services, and does not have any direct contracts with service partners. LST provide all the Department's cleaning services through two service partners: ISS and MITIE.
	Hourly pay rates for cleaners employed by ISS and MITIE vary between £5.73 per hour and £7.00 per hour, depending upon geographical area, job type and tasks.

Departmental Dismissal

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department were dismissed for gross misconduct in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information about the number of staff dismissed for gross misconduct for the period April 2004 to September 2008 (the most recent date for which figures are available) is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Employees dismissed in Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for gross misconduct 
			   Number 
			 April 2004 to March 2005 223 
			 April 2005 to March 2006 227 
			 April 2006 to March 2007 121 
			 April 2007 to March 2008 202 
			 April 2008 to September 2008 126

Departmental Information and Communications Technology

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on upgrading its IT in each of the last three financial years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Department realigned its contracts with its major suppliers, EDS and BT, in 2005, which means the Department only pays for the IT services it consumes.
	Included within these realigned contracts are obligations on the suppliers to maintain and refresh the IT infrastructure that underpins the delivery of standard services. The costs for all upgrades of hardware and software are, therefore, included within the prices the Department pays for the IT services and not identified separately.

Departmental Planning

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what reports have been completed by his Department's Strategy Team in each of the last 12 months.

Jonathan R Shaw: The following reports have been published by the Department's Strategy Unit over the last 12 months:
	More support, higher expectations: the role of conditionality in improving employment outcomes (July 2008)
	Factors influencing the inter and intra class mobility of Jobcentre Plus Customers: a case study approach (May 2008)
	Building a coherent strategy for engagement: deliberative research with employers (March 2008)
	The challenges facing DWP in the future: deliberative research with the public (December 2007)
	Department for Work and Pensions Simplification Plan 2007-8 (December 2007)
	Departmental Strategic Objectives (December 2007)
	In addition, the Strategy Unit has contributed to a number of departmental reports, including the Welfare Reform Green Paper 'No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility' (July 2008), the Department for Work and Pensions Three Year Business Plan 2008-2011 (February 2008) and the Welfare Reform Green Paper 'Ready for work: full employment in our generation' (December 2007).

Departmental Procurement

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of invoices for goods and services procured from small and medium-sized businesses were paid within 30 days of receipt by  (a) his Department and  (b) the agencies for which his Department is responsible in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The proportion of invoices paid within 30 days of receipt for small and medium-sized enterprises is not recorded or reported separately. However the overall performance for the Department and the agencies for which the Department is responsible in 2007-08 was 96 per cent. This can be further broken down to:
	 (a) The Department 96 per cent.
	 (b) The Agencies
	Disability and Carers Service: 95 per cent.
	Child Support Agency: 96 per cent.
	The Pensions Service: 98 per cent.
	Jobcentre Plus: 96 per cent.
	Overall performance: 96 per cent.
	 Note:
	For the period specified in this response, Disability and Carers Service and The Pension Service operated as separate agencies and have, therefore, been reported on separately. Disability and Carers Service and The Pension Service subsequently merged to become PDCS on 1 April 2008.

Departmental Recruitment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many civil servants in his Department were recruited through the fast stream; and what the average salary of those officials is.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Department does not hold historical information on how many civil servants have been recruited through the fast stream centrally or their average salary costs; this information could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Departmental Security

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many security passes have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen by staff in (i) his Department and (ii) agencies sponsored by his Department in each year since 2001.

Jonathan R Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 16 July 2008,  Official Report, column 469W.

Disability Living Allowance: Sight Impaired

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions who represented his Department at meetings on 15 October with the  (a) Royal National Institute for the Blind and  (b) other organisations taking part in the lobby of Parliament that day regarding disability living allowance entitlements.

Jonathan R Shaw: I had the great pleasure of attending and speaking at the Royal National Institute for the Blind's lobby of Parliament on 15 October. It provided me with a valuable opportunity to talk to many blind and partially sighted people as well as representatives of Royal National Institute for the Blind and their partner organisations.

Explosives: Storage

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on what occasions explosive site licences or applications for such licences have been revoked or refused on the grounds of the holder or applicant being deemed unfit to store explosives under the Manufacturing and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Health and Safety Executive has used the power contained in the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 to refuse applications for a licence on the grounds of the applicant is unfit to store explosives on two occasions.
	HSE has also notified the holders of two existing licences that it has decided to revoke their licences because they are not fit persons to store or manufacture explosives. HSE's decisions in relation to these revocations are currently subject to appeal under the provisions of section 44 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
	Comparable information is not available for local authorities and the police, who are also licensing authorities under the 2005 regulations.

Housing Benefit

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed housing benefit  (a) in each of the last five years and  (b) in each month of the last two years.

Kitty Ussher: Figures for numbers of claimants are not available. Figures for the number of recipients are available and can be supplied only on a quarterly basis.
	The available information is in the tables.
	
		
			  Number of recipients of housing benefit in Great Britain 2003-07 
			   Number 
			 2003 3,813,560 
			 2004 3,943,590 
			 2005 3,981,020 
			 2006 4,024,280 
			 2007 4,040,940 
			  Notes: 1. Figures for any non-responding local authorities have been estimated. 2. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 3. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. taken in August 2003 to August 2007. 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of recipients of housing benefit in Great Britain in 2006-07 
			   Number 
			 February 2006 3,998,430 
			 May 2006 3,990,030 
			 August 2006 4,024,280 
			 November 2006 4,028,760 
			 February 2007 4,039,750 
			 May 2007 4,031,810 
			 August 2007 4,040,940 
			  Notes: 1. Figures for any non-responding local authorities have been estimated. 2. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 3. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. taken in February 2006 to August 2007.

Incapacity Benefits

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of incapacity benefit claimants had been in receipt of incapacity benefit for five years or more in the last year for which figures are available.

Jonathan R Shaw: A holding reply was sent 22 October 2008.
	The available information is in the following table. Of new claimants coming onto incapacity benefits, well over half will leave within a year. Those who have been on benefit for over five years will include the most severely disabled. This group has much greater barriers to work and understandably remain on incapacity benefits for longer durations.
	The Green Paper "No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility", Cm 7363, announced our intention to extend our reforms to existing customers, and ensure that they too benefit from the help and support available. We will begin this by introducing, in 2009, mandatory pathways to work interviews for existing customers under aged 25. By 2013 all customers will have been migrated from incapacity benefits to employment and support allowance and as part of that most will be required to engage with us in a pathways to work style programme.
	
		
			  Number of incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance claimants with a duration of five years or more 
			  Quarter  All durations  Duration 5 years or more  Duration of 5 years or more as a percentage of total caseload 
			 May 2007 2,685,320 1,509,360 56 
			 August 2007 2,683,160 1,504,630 56 
			 November 2007 2,683,750 1,504,880 56 
			 February 2008 2,659,650 1,500,220 56 
			  Notes:  1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10,  2. Totals may not sum due to rounding.  Source:  DWP information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study

Income Support: Mortgages

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  at what interest rate income support mortgage interest rate payments are being made; and at what rate income support mortgage interest payments were paid in each of the last 10 years for which information is available;
	(2)  how often the interest rate for income support mortgage interest payments is set;
	(3)  at what level the interest rate for income support mortgage interest payments was set in each month for the last two years;
	(4)  on what basis the interest rate for income support mortgage interest payments is set.

Kitty Ussher: From December 2004, the standard interest rate (SIR) used to calculate support for mortgage interest payments in income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance and state pension credit was changed to respond to changes in the Bank of England base rate. The SIR is the Bank of England base rate plus an additional 1.58 per cent. This is more representative, transparent, easier to understand and easier to administer than the previous method, which was based upon an average of building society interest rates. The additional 1.58 per cent. recognises the fact that lenders' interest rates are set at a higher rate than the base rate and to ensure that no-one lost out when the method of calculation changed.
	DWP no longer needs to wait for the collation of statistics by the Financial Services Authority and the official publication by the Office for National Statistics of the average building society interest rate. Nor does it need to lay regulations to change the SIR. As soon as the Bank of England announces a change which triggers a move in the SIR, action is taken to amend the relevant departmental computer systems. This has reduced the implementation time by approximately four weeks compared to the pre-December 2004 arrangements. Changes are normally implemented in about five weeks from the Bank of England's announcement.
	The SIR is currently 6.58 per cent. The Bank of England announced a 0.5 per cent. cut in the base rate on 8 October. This will mean that the SIR will reduce to 6.08 per cent. in about five weeks' time.
	The information requested is in the table.
	
		
			  Support for mortgage interest: standard interest rate (SIR) changes since 1998 
			  Payable date  SIR (percentage) 
			 31 May 1998 8.34 
			 27 December 1998 8.65 
			 28 February 1999 8.24 
			 28 March 1999 7.75 
			 25 April 1999 7.39 
			 16 May 1999 7.08 
			 27 June 1999 6.66 
			 23 April 2000 6.92 
			 25 June 2000 7.44 
			 24 June 2001 6.94 
			 26 August 2001 6.65 
			 23 December 2001 6.19 
			 24 February 2002 5.74 
			 24 March 2002 5.34 
			 23 November 2003 5.07 
			 28 March 2004 5.33 
			 25 July 2004 5.59 
			 26 September 2004 5.88 
			 5 December 2004 6.33 
			 11 September 2005 6.08 
			 10 September 2006 6.33 
			 17 December 2006 6.58 
			 18 February 2007 6.83 
			 17 June 2007 7.08 
			 12 August 2007 7.33 
			 13 January 2008 7.08 
			 16 March 2008 6.83 
			 18 Mary 2008 6.58 
			  Note: From 5 December 2004, the SIR has been calculated using the Bank of England base rate plus 1.58 per cent. Prior to that, it was based upon an average of building society interest rates.

Members: Correspondence

Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will reply to the letters from the right hon. Member for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill of 4 June, 22 July, 12 September and 1 October about his constituent Mr Gerald Mahoney.

Kitty Ussher: A holding reply was sent on 17 October 2008.
	My right hon. Friend's letter of 4 June was not received by the Department.
	Replies were sent to my right hon. Friend on:
	19 August in response to his letter of 22 July;
	16 October in response to his letter of 12 September and;
	19 October in response to his letter of 1 October.

Occupational Pensions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of the working age population that belonged to an employer-sponsored defined benefit pension scheme in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			  Estimates of the percentage of the working-age population who belong to an employer-sponsored defined benefit pension, by year. 
			  Percentage 
			 1991 28 
			 1995 26 
			 2000 25 
			 2004 23 
			 2006 21 
			 2007 21 
			  Notes: 1. Pension scheme membership figures were taken from the Occupational Pension Scheme Survey. Data for years 1991, 1995, 2000 and 2004 were produced by the Government Actuary's Department (GAD). Data for 2007 and revised data for 2006 were published by ONS in September 2008. The coverage of the survey is the UK. 2. Population figures were taken from Table 1 of the mid-year population estimates produced by the Office for National Statistics. 2007 is the latest year published. 3. The working age population is defined as males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59. 4. To be eligible for membership of an occupational pension scheme, including defined benefit schemes, a person must be an employee working for an employer offering such a scheme.2007

Occupational Pensions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of private sector employers who offered a pension to their employees in each year since 1997 for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is presented as follows:
	
		
			   Percentage of firms with any pension provision 
			 1998 34 
			 2000 29 
			 2003 52 
			 2005 44 
			  Notes: 1. All figures are estimates taken from the Employers' Pension Provision Survey. 2005 is the latest year published. The coverage of the survey is private sector employers in Great Britain. 2. Stakeholder pensions were introduced in April 2001, and from October 2001 employers with five or more employees and no other pension provision were required to provide access to Stakeholder pensions. This is reflected in the increase in employer pension provision between 2000 and 2003. 3. Pension provision includes occupational schemes, Group Personal Pensions, Stakeholder Pensions (including schemes with no members and/or no contributions) and firms that contribute to Personal Pensions.  Source: DWP Employers' Pension Provision Survey

Occupational Pensions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps the Government has taken to encourage employers to provide pensions for their staff.

Rosie Winterton: A holding reply was sent on 20 October 2008.
	Many employers already help their workers to provide for their retirement through workplace pensions. To encourage this and increase participation in workplace pension schemes, our reform programme includes measures that will remove some of the regulatory burdens on schemes and employers and from 2012 employers will have a statutory duty to enrol workers into workplace pension saving that meets minimum standards. We estimate these reforms will lead to between six million to nine million more people newly participating or saving more in workplace pensions.

Pensioners

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent on  (a) pension credit,  (b) the second state pension,  (c) the basic state pension,  (d) widow's benefit,  (e) free television licenses,  (f) Christmas bonuses,  (g) attendance allowance paid to pensioners and  (h) carers allowance paid to pensioners expressed in current prices in each of the last 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: The information is in the table.
	
		
			  Expenditure on selected DWP benefits paid to pensioners 
			  Great Britain, 2008- 09 prices  (a) Pension Credit and predecessors  (b) SERPS and S2P  (c) Basic State Pension  (d) Widow's and Bereavement Benefits  (e) Over 75 TV Licence  (f) Christmas Bonus  (g) Attendance Allowance  (h) Carer's Allowance 
			 1997-98 4,992 4,189 40,255 185 — 184 3,336 — 
			 1998-99 4,671 4,724 41,226 174 — 181 3,459 — 
			 1999-00 4,783 5,563 42,261 163 — 170 3,571 — 
			 2000-01 5,108 5,901 42,427 150 381 169 3,686 — 
			 2001-02 5,465 6,490 44,578 145 445 166 3,806 — 
			 2002-03 5,297 6,932 45,474 179 442 162 3,840 — 
			 2003-04 5,569 7,632 45,755 162 473 162 3,968 42 
			 2004-05 6,670 8,225 46,291 154 486 159 4,104 43 
			 2005-06 7,030 8,928 47,327 138 504 156 4,293 39 
			 2006-07 7,305 9,564 47,506 120 519 154 4,413 42 
			 2007-08 7,582 10,482 48,826 106 525 152 4,572 48 
			  Notes: 1. Pension credit replaced income support for people over 60/minimum income guarantee in 2003-04. Figures include spending on men aged 60 to 64. 2. The main reason for the decline in the payment of widow's and bereavement benefits from 2002-03 is due to changes in the criteria for receipt of the benefits. Widow's benefit is now closed to new claimants, who now receive a bereavement benefit instead. In addition, persons in receipt of widow's and bereavement benefits now receive state pension on reaching state pension age. Previously, persons in receipt of widow's benefit continued to receive this benefit on reaching state pension age and did not receive a state pension. Also, a declining mortality rate means a slight reduction in the numbers claiming these benefits. 3. Over 75 TV licences expenditure is on a UK basis, and was introduced in 2000-01. 4. Christmas bonus comprises of contributory and non-contributory payments and includes all payments made including a small amount to people not of pension age. 5. Carer's allowance replaced invalid care allowance in 2002-03. Consistent estimates of payment of the benefit to pensioners are only available from 2003-04.  Source:  DWP Benefits expenditure tables and accounting data for 2007-08.

Pensioners: Poverty

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Government is taking to reduce pensioner poverty.

Rosie Winterton: Tackling pensioner poverty continues to be one of this Government's key priorities.
	The Government have introduced a number of measures to help older people out of poverty. In 1997, the poorest pensioners lived on around £69 a week, today pension credit ensures that no-one needs to live on less than £124.05 a week (£189.35 for a couple). We have successively raised the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit at least in line with earnings in every year since its introduction, and the value of the safety-net we provide for the poorest pensioners has increased by over a third in real terms since 1997.
	We have made good progress in tackling pensioner poverty. Between 1998-99 and 2006-07 the number of pensioners in low income in the UK has fallen from 2.9 million to 2.1 million (measured by 60 per cent. of contemporary median income after housing costs.)
	Our commitments in the Pensions Act 2007 to continue to uprate the pension credit standard minimum guarantee at least in line with earnings over the long term, and to reintroduce the earnings link to basic state pension from 2012, or by the end of the next Parliament, will help secure the gains we have made into the future.
	We will continue to strive to ensure that older people are aware of, and take up their entitlements through initiatives such as: using sophisticated data matching to identify those who may be entitled to, but not currently receiving, benefits; home visits for vulnerable customers; local and national advertising and media campaigns; a simple and straight-forward claim process; and ever closer working with partner organisations.
	In addition to pension credit we have increased winter fuel payments to £200 for households with someone aged 60-79, and £300 for those with someone aged 80 or over. We will be making an additional payment for winter 2008-09 of £50 for households with someone aged 60 to 79 and £100 for those with someone aged 80 or over. Since 1997, we have also introduced free eye-tests, free off-peak bus travel for pensioners and free television licences for over 75s.

Pensioners: Social Security Benefits

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Government is taking to encourage the take up of benefits that remain unclaimed by pensioners each year.

Rosie Winterton: Addressing pensioner poverty has been one of the Government's key priorities since 1997. The number of pensioners in relative low income has fallen from 2.9 million in 1998-99 to 2.1 million in 2006-07. Pensioners are less likely to be in poverty, as measured by relative incomes after housing costs are accounted for, than the population as a whole.
	Maximising the take-up of benefits is crucial to tackling poverty levels. Since pension credit was introduced in 2003 the number of pensioners in relative low income has fallen by around 500,000.
	We are making every effort to ensure that people are aware of and claim their entitlement.
	We have simplified the claim process to make pension credit easier to claim. Customers no longer need to sign and return their pension credit claim forms, claims can be made entirely over the phone.
	This autumn 2008, we are introducing a measure which will enable claims to housing benefit and council tax benefit made over the phone with pension credit to be forwarded directly to the local authority without the need for a signature—this is a significant simplification to the claim process and should benefit thousands of pensioners.
	In February 2007, an additional question was introduced in the pension credit application process to identify relevant caring responsibilities in order to invite the customer, where appropriate, to claim carer's allowance using a new, shortened, claim pack specifically designed for people of pension age.
	In addition we are using sophisticated data matching to identify eligible non- recipients, home visits for vulnerable customers, targeted local marketing and media campaigns and ever closer working with partner organisations.

Pensions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of adults who were not members of any pension scheme in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The following table gives a time series breakdown of working age adults who were not members of any active private pension scheme.
	
		
			   Number of working age adults who were not members of any private pension scheme (million)  Total number of working age adults (million)  Percentage of working age adults who were not a member of any private pension scheme 
			 1999-2000 17.3 31.8 54 
			 2000-01 17.5 32.0 55 
			 2001-02 17.6 32.3 54 
			 2002-03 17.9 32.5 55 
			 2003-04 18.3 32.5 56 
			 2004-05 18.7 32.5 57 
			 2005-06 19.0 32.8 58 
			  Notes: 1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). 2005-06 is the latest year for which these data are available. 2. Results are presented for 1990-2000 onwards. Data in earlier years are not comparable because of the implementation of improvements in government surveys relating to pensions from that date. 3. Private pension refers to either an occupational, personal or stakeholder pension scheme. 4. Working age is ages 20-59 for women and 20-64 for men.  Source: Family Resources Survey, Great Britain, 1999-2000 to 2005-06

Pensions Service: Occupational Pensions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of the staff at the Pensions Service are entitled to a final salary pension scheme; and how much employer contributions costs to the scheme cost in the last year for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: As at 30 September 2008, 92 per cent. of staff in the Pension Service are entitled to benefits under the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) final salary scheme.
	The Pension Service also paid out £42.153 million in employer contributions for Pension Service staff in 2007-08(1).
	(1) Source:
	The Pension Service Annual Report and Accounts.

Personal Records

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many instances of loss of personal documents have been recorded by  (a) Jobcentre Plus and  (b) the Pension Service in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: Prior to November 2007, the Information Commissioner did not require Departments or other organisations to collect or report details of losses of personal documents or data. Therefore this information is not available in respect of previous years, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Because of the nature of a Department which handles data relating to millions of individual customers on a daily basis, small localised instances involving personal data loss—for example the loss of an individual's papers—are not recorded centrally by the Department or its agencies, and the details of such individual instances could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Details of more significant incidents involving personal data, and which have been reported to the Information Commissioner for the year ending 31 March 2008, were published by the Department in its annual resource accounts on 13 August 2008. The Department will publish, on an annual basis, details of all such incidents in future resource accounts.

Post Office Card Account

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects a decision to be made on who will win the tender to run the successor to the Post Office Card Account.

Rosie Winterton: A holding reply was sent on 21 October 2008.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Secretary of State to the hon. Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) on 20 October 2008,  Official Report, column 143W.

Poverty: Children

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children lived in households with income of less than 60 per cent. of the national average, broken down by the smallest geographical category possible, in each of the last 10 years.

Kitty Ussher: Specific information regarding low income for the United Kingdom is available in "Households Below Average Income 1994/95-2006/07".
	The data source does not allow us to provide robust numbers for estimates below the level of Government office region or inner and outer London for the London Government office region. Information on the number of children below 60 per cent. of national contemporary median income is set out in the following tables.
	
		
			  Table 1:  Number of children  living in households with less than 60 per cent .  of contemporary median household income, before housing co sts, by region or country,  1996-97 to 2006-07 
			  Million 
			   1996-97 to 1998-99  1997-98 to 1999-2000  1998-99 to 2000-01  1999-2000 to 2001-02  2000-01 to 2002-03  2001-02 to 2003-04  2002-03 to 2004-05  2003-04 to 2005-06  2004-05 to 2006-07 
			 North East 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 North West 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 East Midlands 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 West Midlands 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 East of England 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 London 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 
			 Inner London n/a 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Outer London n/a 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 South East 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 
			 South West 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 England 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 
			 Wales 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Scotland 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Northern Ireland n/a n/a 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 UK/GB (three-year average) 3.4 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.8 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 :  Number of children  living in households with less than 60 per cent .  of contemporary median household income,  after  housing co sts, by region or country,  1996-97 to 2006-07 
			  Million 
			   1996-97 to 1998-99  1997-98 to 1999-2000  1998-99 to 2000-01  1999-2000 to 2001-02  2000-01 to 2002-03  2001-02 to 2003-04  2002-03 to 2004-05  2003-04 to 2005-06  2004-05 to 2006-07 
			 North East 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 North West 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 East Midlands 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 L0.3 0.3 
			 West Midlands 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 
			 East of England 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 London 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 
			 Inner London n/a 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 Outer London n/a 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 
			 South East 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 
			 South West 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 
			 England 3.7 3.7 3.6 3.4 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.2 
			 Wales 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Scotland 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 
			 Northern Ireland n/a n/a 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 UK/GB (three-year average) 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.1 4.0 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.8 
			 n/a = Not available.  Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income data. 2. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for Household Below Average Income figures is single financial years. Three survey year averages are given for each of the regions as robust single year estimates cannot be produced because of volatility in estimates. This will mean the Great Britain and United Kingdom totals will differ from the single year estimates published in the "Households Below Average Income 1994/95-2006/07" report. 4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication "Households Below Average Income" series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. Median incomes are used as the national average in the publication. 5. The figures are based on OECD equivalisation factors. 6. Figures have been presented on both a Before Housing Cost and After Housing Cost basis. For Before Housing Cost, housing costs (such as rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, structural insurance payments and ground rent and service charges) are not deducted from income, while for After Housing Cost they are. 7. Number of children in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest 100,000 children. 8. Totals may not sum due to rounding.  Source: Households Below Average Income.

Poverty: Children

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the relationship between parents' cooking skills and child poverty in families.

Kitty Ussher: We have not made an assessment of the relationship between parents' cooking skills and child poverty in families.
	However, food and nutrition in schools and nurseries is being improved as a result of the introduction of new standards over the past three years.
	Sure Start Children's Centres educate children about healthy living from a young age, engaging parents to promote a whole-family approach to eating well and keeping active. Centres deliver activities that encourage an understanding of the importance of diet and nutrition in improving children's health, and provide one to one support for children and parents who are already obese.

Poverty: Children

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to reduce levels of child poverty.

Kitty Ussher: We have made substantial progress. But we are not complacent and despite the scale of the challenge, the Government's commitment to tackling child poverty is stronger than ever.
	We have introduced a range of fiscal and other measures to raise family incomes and ensure poor families with children can access high quality services to support their child's development.
	We have invested in public services, such as education, health care and housing which have played a key role in overcoming some of the immediate effects of growing up in poverty and provided poor children with opportunities to enhance their life chances and break cycles of deprivation. Hundreds of thousands of families have been helped by new tax credits, better public services and a renewed welfare state. Already 600,000 children have been lifted out of relative poverty since 1998-99.
	In addition, Government announcements over the past two years will result in lifting around a further 500,000 children from relative poverty.

Poverty: Children

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in which areas of public policy he plans to bring forward legislation to contribute to achieving the target of eradicating child poverty by 2020.

Kitty Ussher: We are working particularly closely with stakeholder groups as well as talking to children and families, to devise a strategy to eradicate child poverty by 2020 and to enshrine this commitment into legislation.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people with HIV have had their  (a) disability living allowance and  (b) incapacity benefit reduced or removed in the last 12 months.

Jonathan R Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the oral answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) on 20 October 2008,  Official Report, column 9.

Social Security Benefits: Armed Forces

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department takes to ensure that serving and former servicemen receive the benefits to which they are entitled; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given by my predecessor to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) on 6 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 53-55W.

Social Security Benefits: Automated Credit Transfer

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing a system of automatic payments of benefits to people who are eligible for but not claiming pension credit or council tax benefit;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on sharing data in order to enable automatic payment of benefits.

Rosie Winterton: I have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues on a range of issues relating to the assessment and payment of benefits.
	The Government are determined to do everything they can to ensure that people get the benefit that they are entitled to, including using information more effectively. For example we already use sophisticated data matching to identify eligible non-recipients and then use a range of approaches to help encourage them to claim.
	We have made considerable progress in making the process for claiming benefits more automatic. For example, in a new initiative starting this autumn, pensioners can claim housing benefit and council tax benefit with pension credit entirely over the phone without having to fill in and sign a form.

Social Security Benefits: Lone Parents

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assistance he plans to make available to lone parents who move from income support to jobseeker's allowance when their youngest child reaches the age of 12 years to provide the flexibility needed to combine family commitments with job seeking.

Kitty Ussher: A holding reply was sent on 20 October 2008.
	Lone parents claiming jobseeker's allowance will have a jobseeker's agreement, tailored to their individual circumstances, setting out what they will do to get work. This will include any restrictions agreed between them and their adviser on their availability and search for work. This could include restricting their availability to a minimum of 16 hours per week. There are also time-limited easements within the jobseeker's allowance regime which cover special circumstances and include periods where the lone parent or their child is ill or if there is a domestic emergency.
	In addition, to safeguard the welfare of children, regulations will be amended to increase Jobcentre Plus adviser discretion so that a lone parent who is claiming jobseeker's allowance will not be penalised if they leave a job, or fail to take up a job, because appropriate, affordable child care is not available.

Unemployment

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of future trends in the level of unemployment in the UK.

Tony McNulty: While we do not predict future levels of unemployment, we are planning for the impact of higher levels of jobseeker's allowance claims in the coming months. Clearly this is a sensible approach given the expected trends during a time of slower economic growth.

TRANSPORT

Airports: Public Participation

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many consultation exercises his Department has undertaken on airport expansion in the last three years; and at what cost.

Jim Fitzpatrick: One, with a supplementary consultation. The "Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport" consultation was published on 22 November 2007 and closed on 27 February this year. As part of the work to update the Impact Assessment issued with that consultation, the Department is currently consulting on an equalities impact assessment of the Heathrow development options. This closes on 9 November.
	As this is still ongoing, the full costs of the "Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport" consultation process have not yet been finalised.

Bus Services

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in how many areas real-time information is displayed at bus stops.

Paul Clark: In the period of the first round of Local Transport Plans, from 2001-02 to 2005-06, local transport authorities installed travel information displays in 34,271 bus stops.
	The following table shows the regional breakdown for bus stops with new travel information displays installed during this period.
	
		
			  Region  Number of new RTI bus stops 
			 East 4,347 
			 East midlands 1,117 
			 North-east 5,804 
			 North-west 18,765 
			 South-east 1,287 
			 South-west 539 
			 West midlands 479 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,933 
		
	
	This information is not readily available prior to 2001-02, and to reduce the reporting burdens on local authorities has not been collected since 2005-06.

Bus Services

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has issued guidance on the desirable frequency of Sunday bus services.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has not issued any guidance on this matter. To the extent that bus service frequency needs are not being met by bus companies acting commercially, it is for each local authority to decide according to their assessment of local needs and priorities whether they should subsidise enhanced provision.

Bus Services: Concessions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2008,  Official Report, column 427W, on bus services: concessions, when he plans to publish the results of his Department's survey of travel concession authorities; if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter sent to each travel concession authority; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: Preliminary results from the 2008 Concessionary Bus Fares Survey were published in September in the Department's Public Transport Statistics Bulletin, a copy of which is in the House Library. More detailed results will be published on the Department for Transport's website in November 2008.
	A copy of the e-mail and survey questionnaire sent to all Concessionary Travel Authorities have been placed in the House Library.

Bus Services: Concessions

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the surplus or shortfall experienced by each local authority as a result of the funding provided by his Department for the provision of free bus passes for people aged over 60 years.

Paul Clark: holding answer 17 October 2008
	The Government are confident that funding for statutory concessionary travel is sufficient in total to meet the cost to travel concession authorities (TCAs). The bulk of the funding remains within the overall local government formula grant settlement. Additionally, the Department for Transport provides a special grant totalling £212 million in 2008-09 based on generous assumptions around fares, pass take-up, extra journeys and additional costs. This new funding gave many TCAs increases of 30 per cent. or more on the spending that they reported for concessionary travel in 2006-07.
	The Government will continue to monitor the impact of England-wide statutory concessionary travel. There are seasonal patterns to travel so it will take several months to see the full effect.

Bus Services: Standards

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps the Government has taken to improve bus services in England.

Paul Clark: The Local Transport Bill, currently before Parliament, contains measures to improve local bus services. These include provisions that will support stronger partnership working between local authorities and bus operators, make quality contracts schemes a more realistic option for local authorities where they are in the public interest, give passengers a stronger voice by establishing a statutory bus passenger 'champion', and help to improve bus punctuality.
	We are also currently considering changes to bus subsidies—in particular the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG)—bringing them more in line with our environmental objectives and improving services for passengers.
	And we have announced a further £25 million of funding for a new Kickstart competition. The funding will contribute to the Department for Transport's overall objectives of increasing bus patronage, improving accessibility to services and developing bus services as an alternative to car use. Over the coming months, we will be engaging with key stakeholders on the details of the scheme in preparation for the competition to begin in early 2009.

Bypasses: Construction

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  which bypasses have been completed since 2000;
	(2)  how many bypasses have been built in  (a) urban and  (b) rural areas since 1997.

Paul Clark: The following table lists bypass schemes which have been completed since 1997 by either the Highways Agency or the relevant local highway authorities. The Department does not distinguish between  (a) urban and  (b) rural areas.
	
		
			  Year  Scheme 
			 1997 A1184 Bishop Stortford South West Distributor Road, Hertfordshire 
			  Parkeston Bypass Stage 1, Phase 1A, Essex . 
			  Averham Bypass,. Nottinghamshire 
			  A256 Whitfield to Eastry/Whitfield Bypass 
			  A413Wendover Bypass, Buckinghamshire 
			   
			 1998 Werrington/Glinton Bypass, Cambridgeshire 
			  Parkeston Bypass Stage 1, Phase 1B, Essex 
			  A15/A16 Market Deeping Bypass, Lincolnshire 
			  A16 Peakes Parkway, North East Lincolnshire 
			  Dearne Town Link Road, Barnsley 
			  A1058 Cradlewell Bypass; Newcastle 
			  A228 Hale Street Bypass, Kent 
			  A289 Wainscott Bypass, Kent 
			  Tingewick Bypass, Buckinghamshire 
			   
			 1999 Dudley Southern Bypass, West Midlands 
			  Coalfields Link Road Phase 1, Barnsley 
			  Leeds Inner Ring Road, Stage 6, Leeds 
			   
			 2000 A617 Rainworth Bypass, Nottinghamshire 
			   
			 2001 A174 Skelton and Brotton Bypass 
			  Burntwood Bypass Phase 1 and 2, Staffordshire 
			  A151 Weston Bypass , Lincolnshire 
			  C541 Addlethorpe Bypass and Bends Improvement, Lincolnshire 
			   
			 2002 A143 Broome-Ellingham, Essex 
			  A131 Great Leighs , Essex 
			  A6023 Denaby Main Diversion, Doncaster 
			  A511 Ashby Bypass Stage 2, Leicestershire 
			  A27 Polegate Bypass, East Sussex 
			  A43 Silverstone Bypass (A43 M40 to B4031 Dualling), Northamptonshire 
			  A43 Whitfield Turn to Brackley Hatch Improvement (A43 M40 to B4031 Dualling), Northamptonshire 
			  A6 Clapham Bypass, Bedfordshire 
			  A66 Stainburn and Great Clifton Bypass, Cumbria 
			  Wyre Piddle Bypass,. Worcestershire 
			  A428 Crick Bypass, Northamptonshire: (Developer Funded) 
			   
			 2003 A350 Semington-Melksham Diversion, Wiltshire 
			  Barnsley Coalfields Link Road (aka Shafton Bypass) 
			  A6 Great Glen Bypass, Leicestershire 
			  A53 Hodnett Bypass, Shropshire 
			  A5 Nesscliffe Bypass, Shropshire 
			  A500 Basford, Hough and Shavington Bypass, Cheshire 
			  A6 Rothwell-Desborough Bypass, Northamptonshire 
			  A6 Rushden and Higham Ferrers Bypass, Northamptonshire 
			  A6 Alvaston Bypass, Derbyshire 
			  A650 Bingley Relief Road, Yorkshire 
			  A4146 Stoke Hammond and Linslade Bypass (Northern Section), Buckinghamshire 
			  A41 Aston Clinton Bypass, Buckinghamshire 
			  A527 Biddulph Inner Bypass, Staffordshire 
			  Ashton-Under-Lyne Northern Bypass Stage 1, Tameside 
			   
			 2004 St Clements Way, Thurrock (aka West Thurrock Marshes Relief Road) 
			  A607 Rearsby Bypass, Leicestershire 
			  Mansfield Ashfield Regeneration Route, Nottinghamshire 
			  A63 Selby Bypass,; North Yorkshire .. 
			  A10 Wadesmill to Colliers End Bypass, Hertfordshire 
			   
			 2005 A167 Chilton Bypass, Durham 
			  A21 Lamberhurst Bypass, Kent 
			  A47 Thorney Bypass, Norfolk 
			  A142 Fordham Bypass, Cambridgeshire 
			  Gloucester South West Bypass (Castlemeads section) 
			  A5 Weeford-Fazeley Improvement, Staffordshire 
			  A158 Coastal Access Improvement Phase 1—Partney Bypass, Lincolnshire 
			  A428 West Haddon Bypass, Northamptonshire (Developer Funded) 
			  A57 Cadishead Way (Brinell Drive to City Boundary), Salford 
			  Burntwood Bypass Phase 3, Staffordshire 
			   
			 2006 A505 Baldock Bypass, Hertfordshire 
			  South Lowestoft Relief Road, Suffolk 
			  A421 Great Barford Bypass, Bedfordshire 
			   
			 2007 Barford Bypass, Warwickshire 
			  A58 Blackbrook Diversion,. St Helens, Merseyside 
			  A197 Pegswood Bypass, Northumberland 
			  A1198 Papworth Everard Bypass, Cambridgeshire 
			  A612 Gedling Integrated Transport Scheme, Nottinghamshire 
			  A429 Barford Bypass, Warwickshire 
			  Barnstaple Western Bypass, Devon 
			  A38 Northfield Regeneration Relief Road, Birmingham 
			  Rugeley Eastern Bypass Stage 2, Staffordshire 
			  A4146 Stoke Hammond and Linslade Western Bypass, Buckinghamshire 
			  Cradley Heath Town Centre Relief Road, Sandwell 
			  Sheffield Northern Inner Relief Road, Sheffield 
			  A158/C541 Coastal Access Improvement Scheme, Phase 2—Burgh Le Marsh Bypass, Lincolnshire 
			  A165 Reighton Bypass, North Yorkshire 
			  Ridgmont Bypass and Woburn Link Road,. Bedfordshire 
			  A66 Temple Sowerby Bypass and Improvements at Winderwath, Cumbria 
			   
			 2008 Tunstall Northern Bypass, Stoke 
			  A590 High and Low Newton Bypass, Cumbria

Commuters

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has carried out on the average journey time to and from work in the UK in each of the last 10 years, broken down by region.

Paul Clark: The following table shows the average travel-to-work times in Great Britain over the last 10 years, split by region.
	
		
			  Mean time (minutes 
			   Autumn  Oct-Dec  Oct-Dec 
			  Region of workplace  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 North-east 21 21 21 21 21 21 22 22 21 21 
			 North-west 22 23 24 23 23 23 24 24 24 24 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 22 22 22 23 23 23 24 24 24 25 
			 East midlands 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 22 21 22 
			 West midlands 22 23 23 24 23 23 24 24 24 25 
			 East of England 21 22 22 22 23 22 23 23 23 24 
			 London 41 42 42 43 43 42 42 42 43 44 
			 South-east 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 25 
			 South-west 20 20 21 21 21 21 22 22 23 23 
			 England 25 25 26 26 26 26 26 26 27 27 
			 Wales 19 20 20 19 20 21 20 20 21 22 
			 Scotland 23 23 24 24 24 24 25 25 25 25 
			 Great Britain 25 25 25 25 25 25 26 26 26 27 
			  Source: Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey

Departmental NDPBs

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding has been agreed with each of his Department's non-departmental bodies for the period 2008 to 2011.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 21 October 2008
	The following table details the financial support that the Department for Transport has planned for its Executive non-departmental public bodies for the years 2008 to 2011.
	Trinity House is self-funded from light dues collected at ports around the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The Northern Lighthouse Board is similarly funded by light dues collected at ports around the British isles.
	
		
			  Department for Transport planned financial support to its Executive NDPBs for the financial years 2008-09 to 2010-11 
			  £ million 
			  Executive NDPB  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 British Transport Police 14.78 15.22 12.36 
			 Passenger Focus 5.6 5.8 6.3 
			 Railway Heritage Committee 0.0120 0.120 0.120 
			 Trinity House (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Northern Lighthouse Board (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 (1) Nil net.

Departmental Public Relations

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on  (a) entertainment,  (b) advertising and promotion and  (c) public relations consultancy in 2007-08.

Geoff Hoon: The total marketing spend for the Department and Executive agencies in the 2007-08 fiscal year are set out in the following table. The Department's major areas of marketing spend were in support of our marketing activities on the THINK! road safety campaign, Act on CO2 campaign, Concessionary Bus Fares campaign, aviation security and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's continuous registration campaign.
	The total expenditure figures for external public relations support are also set out in the following table. The figures, which are rounded, include the cost of public relations agency fees and the cost of public relations promotions in various media. The prime use of external public relations is in support of the marketing activities mentioned above. Public relations costs are included in the marketing figures.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Department for Transport  2007-08 marketing costs  2007-08 PR costs 
			 DFT Central 26,700,000 625,000 
			 Driving Standards Agency 299,700 0 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 10,400,000 500,000 
			 Highways Agency 1,600,000 0 
			 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency 57,000 27,000 
			 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 1,075,000 53,000 
			 Vehicle Certification Agency 80,500 0 
			 Government Car and Despatch Agency 171,800 0 
		
	
	Information on entertainment spend by the Department and Executive agencies is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. All expenditure is incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regulatory and Propriety.

Dorneywood

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) of 19 June 2008,  Official Report, column 1187W, on Dorneywood: official hospitality, what use her Department has made of Dorneywood for official engagements in the last 12 months.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Watson) on 20 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 90-91W.

Electrification

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on further electrification of the rail network.

Paul Clark: The Government's position on electrification was set out in the rail White Paper Delivering a Sustainable Railway published in July 2007, and available on the Department for Transport website at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/whitepapers/whitepapercm7176/
	The White Paper committed the Government to keeping the case for strategic electrification under review and for considering other schemes on a case-by-case basis.
	The Department for Transport has been working closely with the rail industry to examine the case for extending the electrified network.

Heathrow Airport

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential economic effects of a third runway at Heathrow; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The economic assessment of the proposals for development at Heathrow is set out at annex B of the consultation document "Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport" (November 2007).
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/closed/heathrowconsultation/consultationdocument/annxb.pdf
	Table 1 of annex B sets out the summary of possible monetised impacts of additional capacity. It is estimated that a third runway at Heathrow would generate monetised net benefits to society of £4.4 billion-£5.2 billion.
	The impact assessment also assesses other positive and negative non-monetised impacts.
	The economic effects of not delivering additional capacity would be to lose the net benefits as set out in the impact assessment.

Heathrow Airport

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely economic and commercial effects of not building a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The economic assessment of the proposals for development at Heathrow is set out at Annex B of the consultation document Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport (November 2007).
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/closed/heathrowconsultation/consultationdocument/annxb.pdf
	Table 1 of Annex B sets out the summary of possible monetised impacts of additional capacity. It is estimated that a third runway at Heathrow would generate monetised net benefits to society of £4.4 to £5.2 billion.
	The impact assessment also assesses other positive and negative non-monetised impacts.
	The economic effects of not delivering additional capacity would be to lose the net benefits as set out in the impact assessment.

Humber Bridge Board

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much debt was owed by the Humber Bridge Board in each year between 1982 and 2008; and what the rate of interest charged each year was.

Paul Clark: holding answer 21 October 2008
	Figures for debt outstanding are as follows:
	
		
			   Debt outstanding (£ million) 
			 1982 151.0 
			 1983 168.5 
			 1984 188.1 
			 1985 210.0 
			 1986 234.4 
			 1987 261.6 
			 1988 292.0 
			 1989 326.0 
			 1990 363.8 
			 1991 406.1 
			 1992 453.3 
			 1993 453.3 
			 1994 453.3 
			 1995 453.3 
			 1996 453.3 
			 1997 453.3 
			 1998 359.3 
			 1999 354.3 
			 2000 349.0 
			 2001 349.0 
			 2002 349.0 
			 2003 341.6 
			 2004 337.0 
			 2005 335.6 
			 2006 334.4 
			 2007 333.4 
			 2008 332.8 
		
	
	Prior to 1998, debt was due to both the Public Works Loan Board and to the Secretary of State. It has not been possible, in the time available, to establish the rates that applied in all years up to 1998, but in 1998 the effective rate was 11.62 per cent.
	Under the provisions of the Humber Bridge (Debts) Order 1998, the Government agreed to repay loans outstanding with the Public Works Loan Board amounting to £62 million. Interest on the remaining loan of £359.307 million was fixed at 7.75 per cent. p.a. with interest charges being suspended on £240 million of the debt.
	In June 2007, the debt was restructured to give the effect of applying an interest rate of 4.25 per cent. to the whole of the outstanding debt.

Inspections

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many inspectors were employed by his Department in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 1997-98.

Geoff Hoon: The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 894W, on motor vehicles: taxation, how many people are forecast to renew their vehicle tax  (a) online and  (b) at their local post office in each of the next five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The current forecast based on existing trends of the number of people who will pay their vehicle excise licence (tax discs) via the Post Office® or the Electronic Vehicle Licensing (EVL) facility are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number 
			   2009-10  2010-11  2011-12  2012-13  2013-14 
			 EVL 17,415,468 17,447,553 17,479,639 17,511,723 17,543,809 
			 PostOffice 24,375,011 24,563,761 24,700,268 24,868,406 25,040,472

Motorcycles: Driving Tests

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date the new motorcycle driving test will be introduced.

Jim Fitzpatrick: We plan to introduce the new practical motorcycling test with effect from 30 March 2009.

Motorways: Accidents

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research the Government has carried out on the length of time taken to clear a motorway after a collision and reopen it for traffic.

Paul Clark: The Highways Agency has conducted research aimed at assessing and reducing the duration of incidents occurring on the strategic road network which result in temporary motorway or lane closure.
	The Highways Agency has also undertaken research in collaboration with the emergency services to establish a range of typical 'incident timelines' allowing the examination of the different phases of incident management. The outputs from this research can be found in the Highways Agency's Research Compendium published on the internet at
	http://www.ha-research.gov.uk,
	also accessible through the Highways Agency's website at
	http://www.highways.gov.uk.
	The Highways Agency has also worked in collaboration with overseas organisations to share best practice on incident management.

Park and Ride Schemes

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what park and ride schemes have been established since 2000, broken down by region.

Paul Clark: In the period of the first round of local transport plans, from 2001-02 to 2005-06, local transport authorities implemented 86 new park and ride schemes and 112 extensions to existing park and ride schemes.
	The following table shows the regional breakdown for new and extended park and ride schemes during this period.
	
		
			  Region  Number of new park and ride schemes 
			 East 20 
			 East Midlands 13 
			 North East 15 
			 North West 36 
			 South East 21 
			 South West 34 
			 West Midlands 46 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 13 
		
	
	This information is not readily available prior to 2001-02, and to reduce the reporting burdens on local authorities has not been collected since 2005-06.

Public Transport: Carbon Emissions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps the Government has taken to encourage bus companies to spend money on environmentally friendly vehicles.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has recently consulted on possible changes to bus subsidies—particularly Bus Service Operators Grant—bringing them more in line with our environmental objectives and improving services for passengers. These changes include steps to incentivise the use of fuel efficient vehicles, including low carbon buses.
	We are currently considering the next steps in light of the consultation, and will make an announcement later this year.

Public Transport: Concessions

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with local authorities on provision of free public transport for all children.

Paul Clark: holding answer 21 October 2008
	 We have no plans at present to extend the statutory minimum bus concession to all children, so there have been no formal talks with local authorities about doing so. However, local authorities can use their existing powers to offer local concessionary travel to children and many do offer some form of concession. Such discretionary concessions are not funded centrally but by each local authority, from its own resources.
	For those still at school, many school bus services are provided under contract. Every local authority already has a statutory duty to prepare and publish a transport policy statement.
	From September 2008 the Education and Inspections Act 2006 extends entitlement to free school transport for pupils entitled to free school meals or whose parents are in receipt of maximum working tax credit.
	At secondary school age, pupils attending one of their three nearest schools that is between two and six miles from their home, and those attending their nearest school preferred on grounds of religion or belief between two and 15 miles, will be entitled to free school transport.

Railways

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what change there has been in the average length of a train passenger journey in the last five years.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not have the information requested. However, the Office of Rail Regulation collates passenger data in the 'National Rail Trends' document, a copy of which has been placed in the House Library.

Railways: EU Law

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on his Department's implementation of the EU First Railway package, with specific reference to the implementation of Directive 2001/14.

Paul Clark: The UK transposed the First Railway Package, which comprised three directives (2001/12/EC, 2001/13/EC and 2001/14/EC), in November and December 2005, principally through two sets of regulations implementing the Directives for Great Britain—the Railways Infrastructure (Access and Management) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3049) and the Railway (Licensing of Railway Undertaking) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3050).

Railways: Fares

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average increase in annual rail season ticket costs has been in each year since the cap on regulated fares of RPI plus one per cent. was introduced.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold this information. The Office of Rail Regulation records statistics for regulated and unregulated tickets and publishes these in National Rail Trends, available at
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1528.

Railways: Fares

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received from  (a) passengers or passenger groups and  (b) train operating companies advocating changes to the Approved Penalty Fares Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport receives a small amount of correspondence from passengers, principally related to an individual's penalty fare or unsuccessful appeal against a penalty fare.
	The statutory passenger representative bodies, London Travelwatch and Passenger Focus, have both approached the Department recently regarding a consultative review of the Penalty Fares Rules 2002. The Department intends to undertake such a review as provided for under regulation 11 of the Railways (Penalty Fares) Regulations 1994.

Roads: Accidents

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were  (a) killed,  (b) seriously injured and  (c) injured as a result of traffic collisions involving drivers under the age of 25 years who exceeded alcohol limits in each region of England and Wales in (i) each of the last 10 years and (ii) 2008 to date.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The estimated numbers of people  (a) killed,  (b) seriously injured and  (c) slightly injured resulting from reported personal injury road accidents involving at least one driver or rider under the age of 25 years old and over the legal alcohol level in each Government office region in England and Wales in 1998 to 2007 are given in the table.
	
		
			  Number of casualties 
			  Government Office region  Severity  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 North East Killed 0 0 0 10 0 0 10 10 10 10 
			  Serious 20 30 20 30 30 20 20 30 30 40 
			  Slight 130 160 150 140 110 150 170 110 150 160 
			 
			 North West Killed 20 10 10 20 10 20 20 20 20 20 
			  Serious 120 70 80 80 90 80 130 130 110 80 
			  Slight 420 410 380 440 460 430 490 470 460 450 
			 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Killed 20 10 10 10 10 20 20 20 20 20 
			  Serious 70 80 60 50 70 120 70 60 80 60 
			  Slight 330 330 290 310 320 360 410 350 280 260 
			 
			 East Midlands Killed 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 20 20 
			  Serious 80 50 50 70 50 50 80 70 70 70 
			  Slight 310 270 230 250 270 240 320 260 270 220 
			 
			 West Midlands Killed 10 10 10 20 10 10 10 20 10 30 
			  Serious 90 80 70 60 80 60 70 50 60 80 
			  Slight 290 270 320 340 370 350 350 340 360 360 
			 
			 East of England Killed 20 0 10 10 10 20 20 20 10 20 
			  Serious 120 100 90 100 90 110 90 90 70 80 
			  Slight 350 300 330 310 320 340 320 380 320 310 
			 
			 South East Killed 20 20 20 30 10 20 20 30 30 20 
			  Serious 110 100 100 120 100 120 100 90 80 80 
			  Slight 500 490 530 510 460 480 520 450 470 480 
			 
			 London Killed 0 10 10 0 10 0 10 10 0 0 
			  Serious 70 50 50 60 60 60 60 40 20 20 
			  Slight 200 190 210 270 290 270 260 180 110 60 
			 
			 South West Killed 20 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 20 20 
			  Serious 60 60 60 50 40 50 70 50 80 60 
			  Slight 310 260 310 280 290 300 320 280 370 310 
			 
			 England Killed 130 80 90 110 90 110 130 150 130 150 
			  Serious 720 600 570 620 620 660 670 600 600 560 
			  Slight 2,840 2,690 2,740 2,850 2,890 2,900 3,150 2,810 2,790 2,600 
			 
			 Wales Killed 10 10 0 0 10 10 10 10 10 20 
			  Serious 60 50 50 40 40 40 50 30 20 40 
			  Slight 180 180 200 240 210 220 230 210 220 160 
			 
			 England and Wales Killed 130 80 90 110 100 110 140 150 150 170 
			  Serious 780 650 620 670 660 700 720 630 620 600 
			  Slight 3,010 2,870 2,940 3,080 3,100 3,130 3,380 3,010 3,010 2,750 
			  Notes: 1. Numbers rounded to nearest 1.0. 2. Figures are estimated using data from the police and from coroners' records. The 2007 and 2008 data will be available in September 2009 and September 2010 respectively.

Roads: Accidents

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many people were  (a) killed and  (b) seriously injured as a result of traffic collisions involving drivers under the influence of drugs in each region of England and Wales in (i) each of the last 10 years and (ii) 2008 to date;
	(2)  how many people were  (a) killed,  (b) seriously injured and  (c) injured as a result of traffic collisions involving drivers under the age of 25 years under the influence of drugs in each region of England and Wales in (i) each of the last 10 years and (ii) 2008 to date.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The numbers of people  (a) killed and  (b) seriously injured resulting from reported personal injury road accidents involving at least one driver/rider with impairment by drugs (illicit or medicinal) as a contributory factor for 2005 to 2007 in Great Britain are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number of casualties 
			   2005  2006  2007 
			  Government office region  Killed  Seriously injured  Killed  Seriously injured  Killed  Seriously injured 
			 North East 3 5 4 7 0 10 
			 North West 9 26 15 26 3 31 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 3 24 1 21 5 31 
			 East Midlands 2 12 5 21 8 15 
			 West Midlands 4 14 4 38 3 10 
			 East of England 12 45 12 33 11 36 
			 South East 12 56 6 47 19 37 
			 London 0 12 4 15 3 17 
			 South West 6 19 1 13 4 28 
			 England 51 213 52 221 56 215 
			 Wales 3 17 0 8 9 13 
			 England and Wales 54 230 52 229 65 228 
		
	
	The numbers of people  (a) killed,  (b) seriously injured and  (c) slightly injured resulting from reported personal injury road accidents involving at least one driver/rider under the age of 25-years-old and with impairment by drugs (illicit or medicinal) as a contributory factor for 2005 to 2007 in Great Britain are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number of casualties 
			   2005  2006  2007 
			  Government Office region  Killed  Seriously injured  Slightly injured  Killed  Seriously injured  Slightly injured  Killed  Seriously injured  Slightly injured 
			 North East 2 2 8 0 3 15 0 3 6 
			 North West 1 8 24 11 11 24 1 15 39 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1 7 18 0 10 34 3 9 37 
			 East Midlands 0 2 6 1 8 8 3 7 9 
			 West Midlands 2 7 27 1 23 30 2 4 28 
			 East of England 4 25 28 4 12 21 4 15 20 
			 South East 5 21 32 3 17 51 9 15 47 
			 London 0 3 11 2 6 9 1 2 5 
			 South West 1 3 15 0 9 17 1 21 26 
			 England 16 78 169 22 99 209 24 91 217 
			 Wales 1 10 19 0 4 12 6 8 14 
			 England and Wales 17 88 188 22 103 221 30 99 231 
		
	
	Information on contributory factors is not available prior to 2005. 2008 data will be published in September 2009.
	The contributory factor "impairment by drugs" applies to prohibited drugs as well as all medicines, whether prescription or 'over the counter'. The drug factor is recorded in accidents in which the police officer's opinion at the time of reporting is that the driver/rider was affected by drugs and behaved in a way which caused, or contributed to, the accident. This may not be the result of a drug screening test.

Roads: Essex

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress there has been on the project to dual Priory Crescent in Rochford and Southend East constituency.

Paul Clark: holding answer 21 October 2008
	 Southend on Sea borough council, the scheme promoters, are currently exploring revised proposals for a scheme at Priory Crescent in Southend. The Department for Transport is in close liaison with the council in relation to our requirements for a revised Major Scheme Business Case to be submitted for assessment.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much  (a) public and  (b) private spending there was on the strategic road network in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Clark: In the past 10 years total capital investment on the strategic road network has been:
	
		
			  £ billion 
			 1998-99 0.6 
			 1999-00 0.4 
			 2000-01 0.4 
			 2001-02 0.6 
			 2002-03 0.7 
			 2003-04 0.4 
			 2004-05 0.6 
			 2005-06 0.7 
			 2006-07 1.1 
			 2007-08 1.1 
		
	
	Privately funded investments are included in the Highways Agency's balance sheet and are shown in the figures above as per guidance issued by Treasury. The amounts relating to privately funded schemes are:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2004-05 47 
			 2005-06 93 
			 2006-07 274 
			 2007-08 47

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of road schemes which have been approved in the last 12 months have been procured using  (a) a DBFO contract and  (b) another type of private finance initiative.

Paul Clark: The Highways Agency has not awarded any DBFO or other privately financed contracts for road schemes in the last 12 months.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of the Highway Agency's strategic road network underwent maintenance in each of the last eight years.

Paul Clark: To achieve the annual road condition target, the Highways Agency regularly inspects and reviews the condition of the whole strategic network and carries out discrete maintenance as required. Records show the proportion of the strategic network that underwent discrete maintenance for each of the last eight years is between 4 per cent. and 5 per cent(1). Data for the last two completed financial years (2006-07 and 2007-08) are still being collated, but are expected to be in the range of 4 per cent. to 5 per cent.. Details for each of the last eight years are included in the table.
	(1) Estimated using the Highways Agency's Pavement Management System records.
	
		
			  Strategic road network maintained 
			   Percentage 
			 2000-01 (1)4-5 
			 2001-02 (1)4-5 
			 2002-03 (1)4-5 
			 2003-04 4.1 
			 2004-05 4.4 
			 2005-06 4.0 
			 2006-07 (2)— 
			 2007-08 (2)— 
			 (1) Estimated using the Highways Agency's pavement management Systems records. (2) Records being collated.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of the strategic road network were widened in each of the last 11 years, broken down by region.

Paul Clark: The following table shows how many miles of the strategic road network have been widened in each of the last 11 years.
	Prior to 2001, data were not categorised by region and therefore only total figures have been provided.
	
		
			   Government office region  
			   South West  South East  East  East Midlands  Yorkshire and the Humber  North West  North East  West Midlands  Strategic road network widened (Miles) 
			 1997 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 39.2 
			 1998 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 41.4 
			 1999 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 22.6 
			 2000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 22.4 
			 2001 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 
			 2002 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 
			 2003 0 0 12.8 8.1 4.2 0 2.5 0 27.5 
			 2004 0 2.5 14.3 0 0 0 0 0 16.8 
			 2005 3.2 7.1 0 0 3.1 0 0 0 13.4 
			 2006 4.2 3.1 0 0 10.6 4.6 0 0 22.5 
			 2007 0 0 7.9 0 7.9 0 0 0 15.9 
			 n/a = Not available.  Note: All figures have been rounded to one decimal place. This will account for any slight variation in the totals.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what savings have been made for the public purse in relation to each road detrunked in the last 11 years.

Paul Clark: The 1998 Transport White Paper, "A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone", established a programme of de-trunking to allow the Highways Agency to concentrate on the operation of a strategic road network that links the main centres of population and major transport hubs. The programme enables local highway authorities to set priorities for routes that primarily serve local needs, and supports the Government's aim to devolve more responsibilities to local communities.
	The financial arrangements that have been established for the programme ensure that local highway authorities receive funding commensurate with the purpose the roads will continue to serve. This is taken as being broadly equivalent to the funds the Highways Agency would have spent on the road if it had continued to be a trunk road, because the de-trunking of a road through this programme is not expected to alter the quantity or nature of traffic using the road.
	Consequently, the de-trunking programme is expected to be broadly cost-neutral.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Code of Practice for the Co-ordination of Street Works and Works for Road Purposes and Related Matters introduced in March 2008 under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 in reducing the disruption caused to traffic by such works by  (a) utilities and  (b) other contractors.

Paul Clark: holding answer 21 October 2008
	 The powers in the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 were amended and supplemented by the Traffic Management Act 2004 to help tackle disruption. The Department has commissioned an evaluation of certain parts of the Traffic Management Act 2004 that is due to be completed in summer 2010.
	This will include the impact of strengthened powers introduced in April and May 2008 by Traffic Management Act 2004. These increased local authorities' powers to direct when works by statutory undertakers may take place and where apparatus may not be located. Statutory guidance is provided on these powers in code of practice for the "Co-ordination of Street Works and Works for Road Purposes and Related Matters" published in July 2007 and updated in March 2008.

Roads: Stonehenge

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Government spent on traffic and roads around Stonehenge in each year since 1997.

Paul Clark: There have been no Highways Agency major schemes constructed around Stonehenge since 1997.
	Data regarding the Highways Agency renewal and improvements programme for this part of the south-west are only available from July 2005. There has been no spend in the vicinity of Stonehenge since that date.

Roads:Tolls

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Government  (a) has spent and  (b) is planning to spend on the pilot projects for a national road pricing scheme announced in the 2008 Budget; what the anticipated start date is for the pilot projects; how many projects will take place; and in what locations.

Paul Clark: The Government are not running any pilots for a national road pricing scheme, but, as announced to Parliament, they are exploring how charging by the time and place of distance driven could work accurately, reliably and affordably, while safeguarding privacy. Designing an effective mechanism to achieve these aims within any charging scheme presents a significant challenge: We believe that this project will help local authorities in the longer-term development of their plans for combining a local congestion charging scheme with major investment in public transport.
	We signed framework agreements in September 2008 with two groups of contractors for this demonstrations project on time, distance and place road pricing technology. We are now procuring individual contracts under those frameworks, and we expect the demonstrations to enter the operational stage early in the new year.
	We are working within an overall project budget of £4 million for the financial year 2008-09, but the value of the individual contracts will not be known until December. Total spend over the next two years will depend on how the project's requirements evolve in the light of first and subsequent service contracts.
	The trials will be run by four separate contractors acting as 'road user service providers', and the location of the trials is a matter for them.

Taxis

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was claimed in expenses for taxi travel by officials from  (a) his Department and  (b) its executive agencies in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2005-06, (iii) 2004-05, (iv) 2003-04 and (v) 2002-03; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: Five of the Department's agencies (HA, GCDA, MCA and VOSA) do not record taxi costs separately from other travel expenditure, and could provide the information only at disproportionate cost. DSA have recorded taxi costs separately since 2003 and VGA since 2005. 2003-04 was the first year DfT(C) accounts were fully separate from the then newly formed ODPM. Information for earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The available information is included in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 DfT(c) — 122,148 98,826 103,715 189,307 
			 DSA — 4,896 7,030 9,125 13,401 
			 DVLA 30,333 36,983 42,525 51,800 55,598 
			 VCA — — — 2,581 2,416

Tour Operators: Insolvency

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will extend protection under Air Travel Organisers Licensing (ATOL) to all passengers flying on aircraft departing from the UK regardless of the manner in which those flights were booked; and if he will extend the same protection to those passengers who booked their accommodation independently of their flight as that enjoyed under ATOL by those who book their flights and accommodation as a package with a tour operator;
	(2)  if he will impose a £1 levy on all passengers departing on flights from the UK to extend Air Travel Organisers Licensing cover to all passengers in the event of financial failure of an airline;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the protections provided by the EU Package Travel Directive in relation to the state of the airline industry; and if he will press for its amendment by the European Commission and EU Council of Transport Ministers to ensure that all providers of overseas leisure travel arrangements have adequate protection for consumers.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government are keen to learn the lessons of XL's failure and over the coming weeks officials and Ministers will be discussing a range of issues arising with stakeholders with a view to improving the experience of passengers in future airline or tour operator failures.
	The package travel directive (PTD) is currently under review by the European Commission, and the Commission have recently announced plans to conduct a consumer detriment study to begin this work. In 2007, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform contributed to an initial consultation on the review of the PTD which encouraged the Commission to conduct a radical review of the directive. The Government will work to ensure that UK experiences are considered as part of the review.

Transport

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many community transport schemes were  (a) established and  (b) disbanded in each of the last eight years.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not collate such data. Community transport services are run by not-for-profit organisations.

Transport: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on local transport in each of the last eight years.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has provided in excess of £27 billion to local authorities and Transport for London over the last eight years. Detailed information is set out in figures 7c and 7f in the Department's 2007 annual report, which may be found at
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/about/publications/apr/ar2007/dftannualreport2007.
	Some marginal updates of these figures were provided in the 2008 report.

Tyne and Wear Metro

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who will be responsible for determining whether bids received to operate the Tyne and Wear Metro represent value for money and are soundly financed.

Paul Clark: Nexus (the Tyne and Wear passenger transport authority) will be responsible for evaluating the bids received against all relevant criteria and for selecting a successful candidate. It is a condition of DfT funding that this procurement process is carried out properly and rigorously.

Tyne and Wear Metro

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what public sector comparator will be used to assess bids to operate the Tyne and Wear Metro; and who will be responsible for establishing the comparator.

Paul Clark: The tender process for the operation of the Tyne and Wear Metro will be conducted by Nexus (the Tyne and Wear passenger transport executive). An in-house bid team from Nexus will be eligible to take part in the tender process, and would be required to pre-qualify and submit a bid on the same basis as any other applicant. All bids, including any in-house bid, will be evaluated by Nexus on an equivalent basis.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Airports: Security

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what plans the Government has to introduce mandatory biometric fingerprint checks for passengers on domestic flights; and when she plans to introduce the measures;
	(2)  which legislative provisions permit the biometric fingerprinting of passengers by airport operators on domestic flights; and what conditions apply;
	(3)  which airports will be required to implement biometric fingerprint checks for passengers on domestic flights; and when these measures are to be introduced at each.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 2 July 2008
	The Government are considering using powers in paragraph 26(3) of schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971 to require operators of certain airports to verify the identity of travellers through biometrics such as fingerprints before boarding, where there is a mixing of domestic and international passengers in a common departure lounge and where this would be a proportionate measure to manage border security.
	The Government continue to work closely with airport operators on the measures required to maintain the security of the UK border and of air travel.

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what enforcement campaigns her Department is conducting to prevent  (a) underage drinking,  (b) the sale of alcohol to young people and  (c) alcohol-related crime and disorder.

Alan Campbell: Building upon the successes of the previous Alcohol Misuse Enforcement campaign (AMEC), the Tackling Under Age Sales of Alcohol to Children (TUSAC) and the Responsible Alcohol Sales campaign (RASC) the Home Office is proposing to run a different style of campaign this year.
	We are making funds available to support local problem solving projects, which can address local priorities which stem from alcohol related issues. Unlike previous enforcement campaigns this year's campaign is much less prescriptive and will also enable partnerships to bid for varying amounts of money to undertake more protracted and in depth problem solving work.
	This year we have set broad strategic objectives for the campaign, and have invited CDRPs/CSP's to submit bids, up to a maximum of 30,000. The following principles detailed in the Safe Sensible Social strategy will be considered in order to decide on funding.
	The Government's vision is to produce a long-term and sustainable reduction in the harms associated with alcohol and drugs, where there is a safe, sensible and social drinking culture; where violent and antisocial behaviour is not tolerated; where young people are prevented from experiencing poor outcomes resulting from alcohol misuse; where those who drink alcohol are aware of the risks involved; and where those that are drinking too much receive the advice and support they need.
	The Government's delivery strategy for reducing the harms caused by alcohol is divided into three strands:
	first, the laws and licensing powers introduced to tackle alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder, protect young people and bear down on irresponsibly managed premises need to be used widely and effectively;
	second, focusing prevention, information and support, and where appropriate the criminal justice system at the minority of drinkers who cause or experience the most harm to themselves, their communities and their families. These are: 18 to 24-year-old binge drinkers; young people under 18 who drink alcohol; and harmful drinkers; and
	third, collaborative work by all agencies to shape an environment that actively promotes sensible drinking. Delivery will draw on the knowledge, skills, commitment and ability of local communities, the police, local authorities, prison and probation staff, the NHS, third sector organisations, the alcohol industry, the wider business community and the media.
	Completed bids will be submitted by 7 November 2008, and partnerships will be notified if their bid has been successful by 14 November 2008. Funded partnership activity can take place from this date through to the end of March 2009.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what measures are in place to punish offenders who breach antisocial behaviour orders; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many breaches of antisocial behaviour orders have resulted in a criminal conviction in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England and Wales in each year since their inception;
	(3)  how many breaches of antisocial behaviour orders have been recorded in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England and Wales in each year since their inception.

Alan Campbell: Breach of an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) is a criminal offence and as such is dealt with by the courts in accordance with criminal law procedures.
	There are a range of disposals available to the courts for those people who breach the conditions of their ASBOs. These range from fines to community sentences and custody. The maximum sentence for breach of an ASBO is five years imprisonment and/or a fine not exceeding 5,000 for an adult, and a two-year detention and training order (DTO) for a young person aged 12 to 17 years, of which 12 months is served in custody; the remainder is served in the community under the supervision of the youth offending team (YOT). A minor aged 10-11 cannot be given a term of detention but can receive a community penalty for breach of an ASBO.
	Information collected centrally on the number of ASBO breaches relates only to those ASBOs proven in court to have been breached and is not compiled below Criminal Justice System (CJS) area level. The latest ASBO breach data are available for the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2006 and the available information is show in the table.
	
		
			  Number of occasions in selected areas( 1)  and year between 1 June 2000( 2)  and 31 December 2006 where persons were proven in court to have breached their ASBO 
			   North East Region( 3)  England and Wales 
			 2000-2002(2) 110 777 
			 2003 110 1,409 
			 2004 218 3,997 
			 2005 406 7,248 
			 2006 377 7,755 
			 Total 1,221 21,186 
			 (1) ASBOs may be issued in one area and breached in another. Breaches are counted in this table by area of Breach. (2 )From 1 June 2000. (3 )North east Government office region is comprised of the Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria Criminal Justice System areas.  Notes:  1. Previously issued data have been revised.  2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source:  OCJR Court Proceedings Database. Prepared by OCJR Evidence and Analysis Unit.

Asylum: Housing

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the cases resolved through the grant of leave to remain in the UK under the legacy exercise concerned individuals occupying accommodation provided under arrangements for asylum support; and how many of these have subsequently moved to social housing.

Phil Woolas: We do not hold this information. To obtain this information would entail significant new work which would involve disproportionate cost.

Asylum: Iraq

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Iraqi nationals who worked for or on behalf of the Government and the armed forces in Iraq had been granted asylum in the UK as of 31 July 2008.

Phil Woolas: The available information relates to Iraqi nationals under the scheme of assistance for locally engaged Iraqi staff.
	A total of 14 people, consisting of five Iraqi nationals who worked for or on behalf of the Government and the armed forces in Iraq, plus their dependents, have been granted asylum in the UK and have been resettled as at 31 July 2008.
	Since 31 July 2008, a further 89 people, consisting of 29 Iraqi nationals and their dependents, have been accepted for resettlement and are in the process of being resettled.

British Crime Survey

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is issued to interviewers conducting the British Crime Survey on interviewing in areas where they feel unsafe.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 8 October 2008
	 The Home Office commission BMRB Social Research to carry out the British Crime Survey on their behalf.
	BMRB Social Research issues all their interviewers with guidelines on issues of personal safety based on those published by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

Cannabis

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent representations she has received on the sale of skunk cannabis seeds through online mail-order retailers;
	(2)  what recent estimate she has made of the number of people selling skunk cannabis seeds in England and Wales.

Alan Campbell: We have received recent representations in respect of the sale of cannabis seeds on the high street, including from the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake), but not in respect of the sale of skunk cannabis seeds through online mail-order retailers.
	We have made no estimate of the number of people selling skunk cannabis seeds in England and Wales. The Government's position on cannabis seeds is tied in with the sale and promotion of drug paraphernalia. My officials are currently working with the Association of Chief Police Officers to look at how existing legislation and powers can be used more effectively by the police, local authorities and other partners to curtail the sale and promotion of drug paraphernalia as well as cannabis seeds by taking local, targeted action. The National Policing Improvement Agency is leading on drafting practice advice for police and partner agencies to tackle so-called 'head shops' that glamorise this trade. The agency's work is due to be completed by the end of February 2009. We should await the outcome of this work as it will inform the way forward.

Community Support Officers: Powers

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers police community support officers (PCSOs) have to  (a) stop members of the public,  (b) enter private property,  (c) demand information from members of the public and  (d) issue fixed penalty notices; and what offences may an individual be committing by not co-operating with a PCSO.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 8 October 2008
	The full range of powers available to PCSOs are available at:
	http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/communitypolicing/List_of_Powers_of_Community1.pdf?view=Binary.
	On the specific areas requested, a PCSO may  (a) stop a member of the public in the course of the community support officer exercising his or her powers.
	There is a specific power to stop and search under the Terrorism Act 2000 in authorised areas when in the company of and under the supervision of a constable.
	On  (b), a constable may enter and search any premises for the purposes of saving life and limb or preventing serious damage to property; and may enter licensed premises under section 180 of the Licensing Act 2003 for the purposes of investigating relevant licensing offences.
	On  (c), a PCSO may demand information which is necessary and relevant for them in the course of exercising their powers.
	On  (d), a PCSO may issue a fixed penalty notice in respect of the following:
	cycling on a footpath;
	littering;
	offences under dog control orders;
	offences of disorderthere are 21 individual offences of disorder;
	truancy;
	excluded pupil found in a public place;
	dog fouling;
	graffiti and fly-posting.
	Under section 46(2) of the Police Reform Act 2002, a person who resists or wilfully obstructs a designated person in the course of his duty is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment of a term not exceeding one month or to a level 3 fine or both.

Crimes of Violence: Cornwall

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the trends in violent crime in Cornwall in the latest period for which figures are available.

Alan Campbell: A number of changes have been made to recorded crime in response to the two reviews of crime statistics. One such change is that the term 'violent crime' is no longer used in connection with the recorded crime statistics and we now provide figures for violence against the person.
	Violence against the person figures for the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly basic command unit, from 2006-07 to 2007-08, are given in the table. These data include a percentage change between the two years and a rate per 1,000 population for 2007-08.
	
		
			  Violence against the person offences recorded in the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly basic command unit, 2006-07 to 2007-08 
			   Number/percentage 
			 Population figures (thousand) 526 
			 Offences recorded 2006-07 6,107 
			 Offences recorded 2007-08 5,746 
			 Percentage change 2006-07 to 2007-08 -6 
			 Offences per 1,000 population 2007-08(1) 11 
			 (1) All crime rates are based on mid-2005 population estimates supplied by the Office for National Statistics.

Crimes of Violence: Detection Rates

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the violent crime detection rate in England and Wales was in each of the last 10 years.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 6 October 2008
	A number of changes have been made to recorded crime in response to the two reviews of crime statistics. One such change is that the term 'violent crime' is no longer used in connection with the recorded crime statistics and we now provide figures for violence against the person.
	Non-sanction detections that contribute to the detection rates have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason, overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable. From April 2007, the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.
	Detection rates for violence against the person offences in England and Wales, from 1998-99 to 2007-08, are given in the tables.
	
		
			  Table 1: Detection rates for violence against the person offences in England and Wales, from 1998-99 to 2001 - 02 
			   Detection rate (Percentage) 
			 1998-99 71 
			 1999-2000 65 
			 2000-01 62 
			 2001-02 58 
			  Note: Figures in this table were prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Detection rates for violence against the person offences in England and Wales, from 2002-03 to 2007-08 
			   Detection rate (Percentage) 
			 2002-03 54 
			 2003-04 50 
			 2004-05 53 
			 2005-06 54 
			 2006-07 51 
			 2007-08 49 
			  Notes: 1. Figures in this table are after the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. Figures before and after that date are not directly comparable. 2. Includes the British Transport police from 2002-03 onwards. 3. It should be noted that non-sanction detections that contribute to the detection rates have fallen in recent years reflecting a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections of crime where no further action is taken. For this reason, overall detection rates over time are not fully comparable. From 1 April 2007, the rules governing recording of non-sanction detections were revised to reduce the scope within which they can be claimed to a very limited set of circumstances.

Crimes of Violence: Homosexuality

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the prosecution rate for homophobic hate crime detected by the Metropolitan Police was in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is not collected centrally. From the information collected on recorded crime, it is not possible to identify those offences which are homophobic hate crimes. Such crimes are not specifically defined by statute and details of the individual circumstances of offences do not feature in the recorded crime statistics. In addition, it is not possible from the recorded crime data to track individual offences through to a conclusion.

Crimes of Violence: Public Transport

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of violence against public transport staff were recorded in Greater London in each of the last three years; and if she will make a statement.

Paul Clark: I have been asked to reply.
	With regards to National Rail, London Underground, Docklands Light Railway and Croydon Tramlink, this information is held by the British Transport Police who can be contacted at:
	British Transport Police,
	25 Camden Road,
	London,
	NW1 9LN
	Email: parliament@btp.pnn.police.uk
	Incidents on other public transport in London are dealt with by the Metropolitan Police and not the British Transport Police.

Criminal Records

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of people have a criminal record, broken down by  (a) age,  (b) sex and  (c) ethnicity.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	Figures on the proportions of the population with a criminal history in England and Wales can be found in Criminal careers of those born between 1953 and 1978 at
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hosb401.pdf.
	The bulletin gives figures for offenders who have had a court conviction for a 'standard list' offence. 'Standard list' offences include all indictable and certain of the more serious summary offences. The publication follows those born in the years 1953, 1958, 963, 1968, 1973 and 1978.

Customs Officers: Lancashire

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many customs officers are located at  (a) Fleetwood,  (b) Blackpool and  (c) Glasson Dock in Lancashire.

Phil Woolas: Neither the UK Border Agency nor HMRC release the numbers of front line Customs staff that they deploy at a local level as this would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue and Customs' controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.

Departmental Buildings

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which organisations have received  (a) free and  (b) discounted room hire from (i) her Department and (ii) its agencies in each of the last five years; and what the commercial value of the discount was in each case.

Phil Woolas: Where supply of accommodation is included within the terms of service contracts, the commercial value is secured through better service provision and reduced tender prices. Otherwise only on exceptional occasions, in the public interest, are rooms provided free or at discounted cost. No central records are kept of such exceptional events.

Departmental Cleaning Services

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contracts her Department has with cleaning services providers; and what the hourly rate of pay for cleaners working in her Department is.

Phil Woolas: The Home Department does not have direct contracts with any of the cleaning contractors listed; however two of those contractors (ISS and GBM) do provide cleaning services to Home Office properties as subcontractors employed by our facilities management contractors.
	The hourly rate of pay for cleaners varies from minimum wage up to 6.92 per hour depending on location and skills.

Departmental Computers

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of her Department's  (a) computers and  (b) laptops have been stolen in 2007; and what the value of those items was.

Phil Woolas: In 2007 there were:
	 (a) No Home Office computers recorded as stolen.
	 (b) 12 laptops recorded as stolen.
	The estimated value of these laptops is 8,200. This includes the cost of ensuring that the laptops meet the security standard required by the business process they support.

Departmental NDPBs

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding has been agreed with each of her Department's non-departmental public bodies for the period 2008 to 2011.

Phil Woolas: Home Office NDPBs are funded through grant in aid. Details of funding for 2008-09 can be found in the Home Office 2008-09 Main Estimate (HC 479) and on HM Treasury's website, available at:
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/mainest08_11_ho.pdf
	Indicative figures for 2009-10 and 2010-11 can be found in Table 5.1 of the 2008 Departmental Report in Cm 7396 and on the Home Office website at:
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/ho-annual-report-08.

Departmental Public Expenditure

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent on  (a) new furnishings,  (b) art and  (c) new vehicles by her Department in each of the last three years.

Phil Woolas: The information is as follows:
	 (a) Figures for the purchase of furniture and fittings are available for 2005-06 (4.767 million) and 2006-07 (4.358 million).
	 (b) ArtI refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr. Byrne) on 20 May 2008,  Official Report, column 226W.
	 (c) My Department does not generally purchase vehicles as leasing provides a more cost-effective option. By sourcing through a Ministry of Justice contract leasing provides competitive costing arrangements while ensuring that the relatively small Home Office fleet is maintained to a high standard of serviceability to minimise carbon emissions and maximise economy.

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of written questions for answer on a named day her Department has answered on the due date in the current session of Parliament to date.

Vernon Coaker: Details of how many and what proportion of named day parliamentary questions the Home Office has so far answered in the 2007-08 Session is given in the following table:
	
		
			  Session 2007-08( 1)  Number/percentage 
			 Named day questions received 1,096 
			 Answered substantively on the named day(2) 319 
			 Proportion answered substantively on the named day 29 
			 (1) To 16 October 2008 (2) All questions not answered substantively on the named day receive a holding answer.

Drugs: Crime Prevention

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crack house closure orders have been issued in England and Wales in each year since their introduction.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 8 October 2008
	 The available data are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Crack house closure orders issued by police forces, England and Wales, 2003-04 to 2006-07 
			   Crack house closure orders 
			 2003-04 103 
			 2004-05 284 
			 2005-06 335 
			 2006-07 429

Drugs: Misuse

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the classification regime for controlled drugs in meeting its objectives; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 17 October 2008
	 In replying to the Fifth Report of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Session 2005-06 HC 1031 Drug Classification: Making a hash of it? the Government made their assessment that the classification system discharges its function fully and effectively. Our reply was published on 12 October 2006 (CM 6941) and is available at:
	http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/publication-search/drug-strategy/drugclassification?view=Binary

Entry Clearances

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average waiting time for processing visa applications under  (a) the highly skilled migrants programme and  (b) tier 2 of the points-based system was in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The highly skilled migrant programme was replaced by tier 1 of the points based system (PBS) on 30 June 2008. During July, the most recent period for which figures are available, the average processing time for visa applications under PBS tier 1 was 11.8 days. This does not include the time taken for applications to be couriered between visa application centres and decision-making posts. PBS tier 2 has not yet been implemented.

Entry Clearances: Foreign Workers

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many businesses had applied for licences to sponsor migrants as at 30 September 2008.

Phil Woolas: The number of businesses which have applied for licences to sponsor foreign migrants under the points based system is 3,340this figure is rounded to the nearest five. A proportion of these applications are still awaiting payment and supporting documentation as businesses have up to 28 days to provide this information from the date of submission.
	The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Genetics

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who were under the age of 18 years at the time they were arrested and had a DNA sample taken up to and including 1 December 2007 were subsequently not charged or cautioned for any offence; and if she will make a statement.

Meg Hillier: The national DNA database does not hold information on arrests, charges, cautions or convictions; this information is held on the police national computer (PNC). Information about the number of persons who were under 18 at the time they were arrested and have not been charged or cautioned with any offence could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, information on the number of persons who are currently under 18 who do not have a conviction, caution, reprimand, or received a final warning, and had no charge pending against them, is available. This was given in a reply to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 1 September 2008,  Official Report, columns 1564-65W.

Genetics: Databases

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people arrested  (a) in each financial year since 1995 and  (b) in each month since April 2007, who were (i) under 16, (ii) 16 to 18, (iii) 19 to 21 and (iv) over 21 years at the time of their arrest had their DNA profiles added to the national DNA database; and if she will make a statement.

Meg Hillier: The information requested on arrests is not available centrally. Information on arrests held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform is based on aggregated quarterly data collected at police force area level covering persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) by gender, specific age groups (under 10,10-17,18-20, 21 and over and unknown), ethnicity and by main offence group only. The collection does not record whether DNA profiles were added to the National DNA Database (NDNAD) at the time of arrest.
	It is not possible to calculate the information requested by comparing arrest figures with figures for the number of people added to the NDNAD, because if the same person is arrested on more than one occasion during the year, that person will appear in the figures more than once. Also, the age groups used in the arrest figures differ from those in the question.

Government Communications

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies (i) are classified as Government communicators and (ii) have access to the Government Communication Network.

Phil Woolas: The information is as follows:
	(i)Communication Officers in the Home Office and its agencies are employed at the Senior Information Officer (SIO), Information Officer (IO) and Assistant Information Officer (AIO) grades.
	The following table gives details of the staff currently employed by the Department in these grades:
	
		
			   Grades 
			   SIO  IO  AIO  Total 
			 Home Office 23 27 2 52 
			 UKBA 6 19 4 29 
			 Total 29 46 6 81 
		
	
	Further information on communications staff employed by Departments throughout the civil service can be found in 'The White Book', published by COI. This is available in the Library of the House; and is updated twice yearly.
	Other specialist and generalist staff across the organisation may have communications as a core part of their role, as good communication is integral to helping implement Government policy. However information on the numbers of staff in this category is not held centrally and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
	(ii) The Government Communications Network is open to all staff within the Department who mainly work in a communication role. These individuals have exclusive access to networks, events and community tools (including forums and document sharing) on the GCN website. Information on the numbers involved is not held centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

Immigration

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the cost of the legacy exercise for resolving old immigration cases.

Phil Woolas: Total operating costs for the case resolution directorate in 2007-08 were 31.3 million. The indicative budget for 2008-09 is about 30 million. Budgets for the remaining period up to July 2011 have yet to be finalised.
	Work on supported legacy cases in 2007-08 yielded savings to the asylum support budget of 22 million in 2007-08 and expected savings of 120 million in 2008-09

Immigration

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for  (a) indefinite leave to remain and  (b) further leave to remain made in person at public enquiry offices were not processed within 24 hours in each of the last three years.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Applications for (a) indefinite leave to remain and (b) further leave to remain made at a public enquiry office and percentage completed within 24 hours 
			  Leave type   Within 24 hours  Percentage of cases 
			 Indefinite LTR 2005 Within 24 hours 96 
			   Outside 24 hours 4 
			  2006 Within 24 hours 90 
			   Outside 24 hours 10 
			  2007 Within 24 hours 90 
			   Outside 24 hours 10 
			 
			 Further LTR 2005 Within 24 hours 97 
			   Outside 24 hours 3 
			  2006 Within 24 hours 95 
			   Outside 24 hours 5 
			  2007 Within 24 hours 91 
			   Outside 24 hours 9 
			  Notes: 1. Based on lead applications 2. Applications created by General or Employment Casework

Immigration

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for  (a) indefinite leave to remain and  (b) further leave to remain were received in each of the last three years; and how many of these were (i) postal applications and (ii) applications made in person at public enquiry offices.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Applications for (a) indefinite leave to remain and (b) further leave to remain by (i) postal and (ii) public enquiry office 
			  Leave type   Work type  Number of cases 
			 Indefinite LTR 2005 PEO 38,057 
			   Postal 88,926 
			  2005 Total 126,983 
			  2006 PEO 20,346 
			   Postal 79,244 
			  2006 Total 99,590 
			  2007 PEO 26,199 
			   Postal 64,682 
			  2007 Total 90,881 
			 Indefinite LTR  Total 317,454 
			 
			 Further LTR 2005 PEO 55,996 
			   Postal 251,193 
			  2005 Total 307,189 
			  2006 PEO 60,668 
			   Postal 273,851 
			  2006 Total 334,519 
			  2007 PEO 55,125 
			   Postal 287,441 
			  2007 Total 342,566 
			 Further LTR  Total 984,274 
			  Notes: 1. Based on lead applications 2. Applications created by General or Employment Casework

Immigration Controls

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will publish the target times for passengers to be processed through immigration controls at  (a) Heathrow,  (b) Gatwick and  (c) Stansted airports.

Phil Woolas: We recognise that we have a responsibility to process genuine passengers without delay but the safety and security of the public is our priority.
	The introduction of Service Level Agreements (SLA) is key to our commitment to improve the passenger arrival experience. SLAs will include standards on key metrics, such as queuing benchmarks. The agreements will be published and reviewed annually.
	As part of the SLA negotiation process, we are working closely with airport and airline operators to reach agreement on the most effective way to measure queues at operational locations. There are currently arrangements in place at selected ports to benchmark performance. The three ports referred to in your question are using a 45 minute (non-EEA) and 25 minute (EEA) queuing time as such a benchmark. This is the maximum wait time in which we aim to process passengers and in turn informs staff deployment, as well as informing considerations on further investment. We are clear that the averages are well within these benchmarks but will continue to work on reducing the occasions where those figures are exceeded.

Immigration Controls

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were granted leave to remain in the United Kingdom through the long-term residence concession in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: The provision to grant indefinite leave to remain (ILR) on the basis of long-term residence was introduced into the immigration rules in April 2003. Prior to this, a person could be granted ILR on a discretionary basis under the Long Residence concession.
	Statistics on persons granted ILR under the Long Residency concession/immigration rules, in each of the years 2003 to 2007, are provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Grants of indefinite leave to remain under the Long Residency concession/immigration rules, excluding EEA nationals and Switzerland( 1) , 2003 to 2007, United Kingdom 
			 Number of persons 
			  Category of grant  2003  2004( 2)  2005  2006  2007( 3, 4) 
			 Long Residency(5, 6, 7) 9,215 3,005 2,925 4,020 3,155 
			 (1) Data from 2003 exclude dependants of EEA and Swiss nationals in confirmed relationships granted permanent residence. (2) Includes nationals of the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia before 1 May 2004, but excludes them from this date. (3) Excludes nationals from Bulgaria and Romania from 1 January 2007. (4) Provisional. (5) 10/14 years continuous residence. (6) Includes persons granted settlement following application under the regularisation scheme for overstayers. (7) Excludes dependants granted settlement in-line.  Note: Data rounded to the nearest five.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer the letter to her of 1 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton on Mrs. N. Akhtar.

Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 15 October 2008.

Olympic Games 2012: Security

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding her Department has allocated for  (a) the policing and security of and  (b) immigration work associated with the London 2012 Olympics.

Vernon Coaker: The total agreed envelope for additional Olympic 2012 policing and wider security spending is 600 million. The Home Office is likely to be the major contributor to this but money will be drawn from a number of different Departments. The 600 million envelope excludes spending being met by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) for requirements that fall within their remits.
	A costed safety and security plan for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is currently being prepared. The plan will detail additional expenditure, including any that relates to immigration, policing and security, to ensure a safe and secure games. I anticipate that work on the costed security plan will be completed by the end of this year.

Passports

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passport applications were rejected in each of the last five years, broken down by  (a) processing office and  (b) reason for rejection.

Jacqui Smith: The information provided shows the number of applications that have been failed for nationality reasons and all other rejections.
	
		
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  Total 
			  Belfast   
			 Other reasons 1,461 1,611 2,029 2,350 1,727 9,178 
			 Nationality grounds 210 236 199 255 275 1,175 
			  Durham   
			 Other reasons 5,872 7,527 9,488 9,622 7,930 40,439 
			 Nationality grounds 997 1,153 1,615 1,585 1,667 7,017 
			  Glasgow   
			 Other reasons 2,720 2,863 3,252 2,934 2,358 14,127 
			 Nationality grounds 246 307 329 296 335 1,513 
			  Liverpool   
			 Other reasons 3,524 4,214 5,229 5,930 4,929 23,826 
			 Nationality grounds 433 473 884 1,055 749 3,594 
			  London   
			 Other reasons 613 350 561 447 389 2,360 
			 Nationality grounds 4 1 0 1 1 7 
			  Newport   
			 Other reasons 4,811 4,870 5,671 4,190 3,767 23,309 
			 Nationality grounds 531 637 733 672 688 3,261 
			  Peterborough   
			 Other reasons 8,912 6,756 6,667 6,823 5,452 34,610 
			 Nationality grounds 3,279 3,096 2,428 2,091 1,974 12,868 
			  Total   
			 Other reasons 27,913 28,191 32,897 32,296 26,552 147,849 
			 Nationality grounds 5,700 5,903 6,188 5,955 5,689 29,435

Police: Leicestershire

Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers and police community support officers are employed in Leicestershire constabulary.

Vernon Coaker: Leicestershire constabulary employed 2,241 police officers and 212 police community support officers as at 31 March 2008. These figures are both calculated on a full-time equivalent basis. These and other related data are published annually as part of the annual Police Service Strength Home Office Statistical Bulletin. The latest bulletin can be found at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/policeorg1.html
	and bulletins for previous years are available in the House of Commons Library.

Police: Pensions

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the implications of the deficit in the Police Contributory Pension Fund.

Vernon Coaker: The Police Pension Scheme 1987 and the New Police Pension Scheme 2006 are both unfunded, so when benefits fall due for payment they are met from Government revenues. There is no actual pension fund or deficit. However, in any particular year, income from pensions contributions from police authorities and police officers is used to offset the costs of paying benefits to pensioners.

Police: Stun Guns

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will ensure that police officers armed with stun guns only use them in exceptional circumstances and after approval from a senior officer has been obtained.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 20 October 2008
	 The police use of Taser is limited to trained officers in accordance with Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidance. That guidance is clear that Taser use is currently restricted to authorised firearms officers (AFOs) where a firearms authority has been granted in accordance with criteria laid down in the ACPO Manual of Guidance on Police Use of Firearms. In addition AFOs are able to deploy Taser in operations or incidents where the use of firearms is not authorised, but where they are facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to use force to protect the public, themselves or the subject. A trial of the deployment of Taser in 10 police forces to specially trained police units not composed of firearms officers, for use when facing similar threats of violence, is currently being evaluated. The use of Taser in the trial is subject to the authority level of the appropriate authorising officer, thus placing it at the same authority level as for a firearms incident.

Police: Stun Guns

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice she has issued to police on the use of stun guns against farm animals; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 20 October 2008
	 The Home Office has issued no guidance to police on the use of Taser against farm animals. The police use of Taser is governed by Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guidance.

Powers of Entry

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what categories of public official may enter a private residence without the permission of the  (a) owner and  (b) occupier (i) with and (ii) without advance notice; and under what circumstances such entry may lawfully be made;
	(2)  which categories of public official may  (a) enter a place of business and  (b) call a halt to (i) trading and (ii) production (A) with and (B) without advance notice; and what the circumstances are in which such actions may lawfully be taken in each case.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 6 October 2008
	Powers of entry with or without warrant by definition do not require the consent of the owner or occupier of the premises. The list of powers of entry to all premises is contained on the Powers of Entry Review webpage at:
	http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operationalpolicing/powerspacecodes/powersofentryreview/.
	The content of the list are currently subject to verification with other Government Departments and investigating agencies. Specific powers where prior notice is required are set out in the following table.
	The ability to require a cessation to operating functions is an enforcement power. Such enforcement action would not be conditional on the exercise of a power of entry. The list sets out statute which provides for cessation and which also contains a power of entry.
	
		
			  Primary legislation 
			  Statute  Power  Who may enter  Other powers 
			 Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 s.44: Powers of fire-fighters in an emergency. Employee of fire and rescue authority in writing May restrict access of persons to premises or place. 
			 Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 s.20: Powers of Inspectors. Inspectors appointed under the Act Comprehensive list of powers of examination/investigation which includes power to direct that premises or parts are left undisturbed for as long as reasonably necessary to complete the examination. 
			 Housing Act 2004 s.40 Emergency Remedial action. Local housing authority May take emergency remedial action. 
			  Sch. 3, para. 3: Entry by local housing authorities to take action regarding improvement Notices without agreement. Local housing authority Person authorised in writing by local housing authority may take action in relation to hazard 
		
	
	
		
			  Secondary legislation 
			  Statutory instrument (year/number)  Power  Who may enter  Other powers 
			 Avian Influenza and Influenza of Avian Origin in Mammals (England) (No 2) Order 2006 [2006/2702] Art 72(2): Entry to decide whether to grant/ maintain licence to move anything. Inspector or person authorised by SoS Article 82general powers of inspectors when performing functions under this Order includes cleansing and disinfecting etc. 
			 Enzootic Bovine Leukosis (England) Order 2000 [20002056] Art 10(3): Entry where notice served under (1) for purposes of cleansing and disinfection. Veterinary Inspector May cause to carry out cleansing disinfection -may recover expenses from person in default. 
			 Enzootic Bovine Leukosis (Wales) Order 2006 [2006/867] Art 11(3): Entry where notice served under (1) for purposes of cleansing and disinfection. Veterinary Inspector May cause to carry out cleansing disinfection -may recover expenses from person in default. 
			 Importation of Animal Pathogens Order 1980 [1980/212] Art 6(5): Entry by inspectors where notice served under para (3) regarding cleansing and disinfecting not complied with. Veterinary Inspector May cause to carry out cleansing disinfection. 
			 Marketing of Fruit Plant Material Regulations 1995 [1995/2653] Reg 12(1): Entry to ascertain whether a contravention of these regulations. Inspector May serve notice on supplier of failure to comply with regulation 5(a) and require not to move/ market plant material until reasonable measures specified in notice carried out. 
			 Marketing of Ornamental Plant Propagating Material Regulations 1999(1999/180] Reg 13(1): Entry to ascertain whether a contravention of these regulations. Inspector May serve notice on supplier of failure to comply with these regulations and require not to move/ market propagating material until such reasonable measures specified in notice carried out. 
			 Marketing of Vegetable Plant Material Regulations 1995 [1995/2652] Reg 11 (1): Entry to ascertain whether a contravention of these regulations.. Inspector May serve notice on supplier of failure to comply with regulation 5(a) and require not to move/ market plant material until such reasonable measures specified in notice are carried out. 
			 Animals and Animal Products (Examination for Residues and Maximum Residue Limits) Regulations 1997 [1997/1729] Reg 16: Entry following failure to comply with notice served under these regulations. Veterinary Inspector May take or cause to be taken such necessary steps to ensure compliance with requirements of notice. Costs may be recoverable. 
			 Gas Safety (Rights of Entry) Regulations 1996 [1996/2535] Reg 4 (1): Entry by gas transporter to deal with gas escapes of gas conveyed by the transporter. Officer authorised by transporter Carry out work necessary to prevent the escape of gas and take any other steps to avert danger to life or property. 
			  Reg 5: Power to enter premises for purposes of inspection, testing, disconnection etc. Officer authorised by the relevant authority If necessary to avert danger to life or property, disconnect and seal off any gas fitting or any part of the gas system, or disconnect the premises, or if not connected, signify refusal to convey gas to premises etc. 
			 Gas Safety (Management) Regulations 1996 [1996/551] Reg 7 (4) and (5): Entry to relevant place by person conveying gas when carrying out duty to prevent gas escaping. Person conveying gas Take all steps necessary to avert clanger to persons from entry of gas. 
			 Submarine Pipe-lines (Inspectors etc) Regulations 1977 [1977/835] Art3(1)(b): Entry to premises for purposes of inspecting pipe-lines. Inspector appointed by SoS If risk of Sch. 1 occurrence (concern actual or potential danger etc.) require remedial/preventative action, shut down if serious risk.

Powers of Entry

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many powers of entry have been established in legislation introduced by her Department since 1997; and how many have been abolished.

Vernon Coaker: Further to my reply to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East (James Duddridge) answered on 7 October 2008,  Official Report, column 577W, a revised table has been placed in the House Library showing powers of entry introduced since 1997.
	The revised table identifies that there are currently 73 primary enactments and 202 statutory instruments containing reference to a power of entry in England and Wales that are in effect and have been introduced since 1997 .
	We have not collected information on the number of powers that have been repealed or revoked since 1997. This is because the review is focusing on the development of a framework for existing and future powers.

Racially Aggravated Offences: Detection Rates

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the prosecution rate was for racist hate crime detected by the Metropolitan Police in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The information is not available centrally. While the Home Office collects statistics on racially or religiously aggravated offences detected by the police, it is not possible to determine those which result in a prosecution.

Redundancy

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the cost of redundancies in her Department arising from the conclusions of the Gershon review.

Jacqui Smith: It is not possible to identify the number of early departures, the exact nature and circumstances of individual departures or associated costs that have occurred in the Home Office as a direct result of the Gershon review without incurring a disproportionate cost.
	Central information held on early departures does not distinguish between those who might have been compelled to leave the Department on compulsory redundancy terms, and those who wished to leave voluntarily on similar terms. It would be necessary to review individual files to extract the information requested.

Work Permits

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permit applications were outstanding at the time of the replacement of the work permit scheme.

Phil Woolas: The points system will go live later in the autumn.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Departmental Accounting

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 15 September 2008,  Official Report, column 2016W, on the departmental internet, when the Cabinet Office's resource accounts will be audited; and when the audited accounts will be published.

Kevin Brennan: The Cabinet Office expects its resource accounts for the year ending 31 March 2009 to be audited and published shortly before the summer parliamentary recess in 2009.

Departmental Pay

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

Tom Watson: The information requested is a matter of public record. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) on 6 June 2008,  Official Report, column 1185W.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Christmas

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many Christmas functions  (a) he,  (b) officials from his Department and  (c) officials from its executive agencies (i) hosted and (ii) attended in 2007-08; what the cost to the public purse was; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. All entertainment is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety.

Cuba: Hurricanes and Tornadoes

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if the Government will provide humanitarian aid to Cuba following the recent hurricanes.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has provided 250,000 in direct humanitarian aid to Cuba through the International Red Cross for shelter material and water filters for some 40,000 people. In addition, the European Commission Humanitarian Office (ECHO) has announced a relief contribution of 2 million, of which 17.5 per cent. is funded by DFID. The United Nations Relief Agencies have mobilised $8.6 million for relief and rehabilitation works in Cuba, $1.6 million of which is funded by DFID through the UN. However, the UN remains in negotiation with the Cuban authorities on full access and co-operation in order to use that money. We also understand that the Cuban Government has received offers totalling $30.5 million from a number of countries to assist with their reconstruction and emergency response efforts following the impact of the recent hurricanes.

Departmental Finance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how his Department's budget was allocated between the different functions of the Department in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Douglas Alexander: Budget information for the financial year 2008-09 at a divisional/sub-division level is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			   000 
			  Division / Subdivisions  2008-09 
			  Corporate Performance  
			 Top Management Group 4,580 
			 Information Systems Division Level 12,656 
			 Finance and Corporate Performance Division 7,258 
			 Human Resources Division 54,153 
			 Communications Division 33,741 
			 Internal Audit 1,300 
			 Evaluation Department 4,302 
			 Centrally Managed Costs and Contingency 205,233 
			   
			  Policy And International  
			 International Finance and Development Effectiveness 985,615 
			 Policy and Research Division 503,862 
			 United Nations, Conflict and Humanitarian Div 417,163 
			 Europe and Donor Relations Division 1,084,247 
			   
			  Regional Programmes  
			 Pan-Africa Strategy and Programmes 87,461 
			 South Asia Division 700,829 
			 Europe, Middle East, Americas and Central and East Asia 403,219 
			 West and Southern Africa 539,677 
			 East and Central Africa 707,893 
			 Grand Total 5,748,609

Departmental Information and Communications Technology

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on upgrading its IT in each of the last three financial years.

Douglas Alexander: The information required cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

Departmental NDPBs

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding has been agreed with each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies for the period 2008 to 2011.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has one non-departmental public body, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom (CSC). The CSC reports annually to Parliament through the Secretary of State for International Development. Copies of its report are placed in the Library of the House.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the  (a) budget and  (b) staff level of his Department's (i) Corporate Performance Division and each of its subdivisions, (ii) Policy and Research Division and each of its subdivisions, (iii) International Division and each of its subdivisions and (iv) Country Programmes Division and each of its subdivisions (A) was in each of the last three years and (B) is projected to be in each of the next three years.

Douglas Alexander: Table 1 details the staffing levels for home civil service staff and staff appointed in country for each of DFID's division and subdivisions. The figures from 2006 to 2008 show the numbers of full-time equivalent staff as at end of March for each of those years. Part-time staff are counted according to the percentage of full-time hours worked. Projected staffing levels are shown for March 2011. This is currently being reviewed.
	Table 2 details budget planning levels from 2005-06 to 2010-11. Final divisional allocations for 2008-09 to 2010-11 will be subject to further revision based on operational demands of the government's aid programme.
	Various divisional restructures have occurred over the last three years and both tables are mapped as closely as possible to the most up-to-date current reporting structures.
	
		
			  Table 1 :DFID actual staff in post (full-time equivalent) levels by division for 2006 to 2008; plus projections of staff levels for 2009 to 2011 
			   March 2006  March 2007  March 2008  Projection of total posts for March 2011 
			  Division  HCS  SAIC  Total  HCS  SAIC  Total  HCS  SAIC  Total  HCS  SAIC  Total 
			  Corporate performance 
			 Business Solutions 87 0 87 83 5 88 84 9 93 100 19 119 
			 Communications 131 0 131 81 0 81 69 0 69 96 0 96 
			 Finance and Corporate Performance 210 0 210 218 0 218 188 2 190 137 4 141 
			 Human Resources 242 0 242 215 0 215 196 0 196 176 12 188 
			 Sub totals 670 0 670 597 5 602 537 11 548 509 35 544 
			  
			  Policy and research 
			 Policy and research 222 0 222 224 0 224 210 0 210 195 0 195 
			 Sub totals 222 0 222 224 0 224 210 0 210 195 0 195 
			  
			  International 
			 Europe and donor relations division (1) (1) (1) 60 0 60 74 v0 74 91 0 91 
			 International finance and development effectiveness 62 0 62 59 0 59 56 0 56 63 0 63 
			 United Nations, conflict and humanitarian 104 3 107 105 7 112 96 8 104 103 5 108 
			 Sub totals 166 3 169 224 7 171 226 8 234 257 5 262 
			  
			  Country programmes 
			 Africa 303 448 751 294 412 706 264 400 664 237 366 603 
			 Europe, middle east, Americas central and east Asia 161 118 279 154 111 265 177 177 354 143 113 256 
			 South Asia 180 362 542 166 325 491 120 227 347 113 228 341 
			 Sub totals 644 928 1572 614 848 1,462 561 804 1,365 493 707 1,200 
			  
			  Sub-division (not included in above divisions) 
			 Seconded from 33 1 34 2 0 2 6 0 6 0 0 0 
			 Top management group 36 0 36 30 0 30 40 1 41 42 0 42 
			 Unallocated 30 0 30 28 5 33 32 10 42 0 0 0 
			 Sub totals 99 1 100 60 5 65 78 11 89 42 0 42 
			  
			 Grand totals 1,801 932 2,733 1,719 865 2,524 1,612 834 2,446 1,496 747 2,243 
			 (1 )Division did not exist at March 2006 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: DFID resource budget figures by division and sub-division from 2005-06 to 2010-11 
			  000 
			  Division/subdivisions  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			  Corporate performance   
			 Top management group 3,790 3,551 4,100 4,580 4,475 4,371 
			 Information systems division level 12,123 18,823 18,409 12,656 12,275 11,748 
			 Finance and corporate performance division 13,677 12,080 8,389 7,258 6,413 5,979 
			 Human resources division 35,415 36,531 51,524 54,153 43,907 34,472 
			 Communications division 14,660 23,000 22,834 33,741 40,573 48,951 
			 Internal audit 713 800 880 1,300 1,300 1,302 
			 Evaluation department 3,562 2,700 3,669 4,302 5,300 5,279 
			 Centrally managed costs and contingency 101,300 96,500 97,412 205,233 406,000 589,000 
			
			  Policy and international   
			 International finance and development effectiveness 667,493 1,173,975 937,536 985,615 1,327,200 1,575,214 
			 Policy and research division 316,445 267,044 386,227 503,862 646,964 839,155 
			 United Nations, conflict and humanitarian division 423,123 408,394 419,969 417,163 440,787 496,114 
			 Europe and donor relations division 885,596 912,817 994,000 1,084,247 1,209,755 1,312,727 
			
			  Regional programmes   
			 Pan-Africa strategy and programmes 50,000 57,280 56,741 87,461 234,163 351,211 
			 South Asia division 589,700 603,167 657,703 700,829 735,809 808,139 
			 Europe, middle east, Americas and central and east Asia 380,518 341,622 376,919 403,219 411,917 383,782 
			 West and southern Africa 427,500 416,842 543,211 539,677 563,585 606,214 
			 East and central Africa 551,000 589,436 704,900 707,893 757,848 848,125 
			
			 Grand total 4,472,825 4,961,011 5,280,323 5,748,609 6,843,796 7,917,412 
			  Notes: 1. Centrally managed costs line includes depreciation, corporate IT systems and all budget contingency reserves for 2008-09 onwards. 2. Human Resources includes office services and costs and Overseas Pensions. 3. Europe and Donor Relations Division includes EC attribution.

Food: Prices

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the written statement of 22 April 2008,  Official Report, column 100WS, on rising food prices (international impact), how much budgetary support has been advanced; to which countries; how much his Department has spent on additional payments to date; and which countries have received such payments.

Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) has made no advance budget support payments in support of the food crisis this year, since those countries most affected by the crisis are not currently budget support recipients. We will continue to review the need to use advance budget support payments to manage the impact of high food and fuel prices on developing countries.
	Since 1 January this year, DFID has given 331.2 million of budget support to eight countries in Africa and south Asia, shown in the following table. Further budget support is likely to be made this financial year. The level of funding reflects the additional burden being placed on these countries as a result of higher food and fuel prices, and will help their governments to respond flexibly to evolving needs.
	
		
			million 
			   PRBS disbursed since 1 January 2008 
			 Ethiopia 50.4 
			 Ghana 53.8 
			 Malawi 11.3 
			 Mozambique 49.2 
			 Rwanda 33 
			 Sierra Leone 10 
			 Tanzania 103.5 
			 Pakistan 20

Food: Prices

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the written statement of 22 April 2008,  Official Report, column 100WS, on rising food prices (international impact), how much of the 30 million identified for support for the World Food Programme has been spent to date; on what dates such payments were made; and what quantity of food has been purchased as a result, broken down by food type.

Douglas Alexander: Details of disbursement of the additional 30 million contribution to the World Food Programme, announced on 22 April 2008, are as follows:
	
		
			  Country   million  Date payment made  Quantity of food purchased to date (mt)  Type of food purchased to date 
			 Iraq 2 17 June 3,940 Beans, rice 
			 Kenya 5 13 August 10,209 Maize 
			 Somalia 9 29 August 14,543 Maize, sorghum, millet 
			 Uganda 4 (1)   
			 Yemen 1 17 June 3,239 Beans, iodised salt, sugar, vegetable oil, wheat 
			 Zimbabwe 9 1 September 23,355 Maize 
			 (1 )Not yet made

Middle East: Politics and Government

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in  (a) the west bank and  (b) the Gaza strip.

Douglas Alexander: We remain concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and continue to monitor it closely.
	In Gaza, 69 per cent. of the population receive some form of food aid. Over 95 per cent. of businesses have closed and unemployment is over 45 per cent.. Health and educational services are under severe strain and the economy has been severely affected by crossing restrictions. Since the ceasefire began in June there have been some improvements. For example, projects to repair sewage treatment facilities have restarted and fuel supplies to the Gaza power plant have increased. However, the overall flow of humanitarian supplies, commercial goods and people into Gaza has only improved marginally.
	In the west bank, 25 per cent. of the population is affected by food insecurity and unemployment is over 16 per cent. Due to falling incomes and continuing rises in food prices, people in the west bank now spend 56 per cent. of their income on food. Movement and access restrictions continue to hold back economic growth and to affect the daily life of ordinary Palestinians. In August, the United Nations counted 630 physical obstacles such as roadblocks and checkpoints in the west bank. This is almost 68 per cent. higher than when the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access was signed.

Sudan: Politics and Government

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Darfur.

Ivan Lewis: Widespread violence continues to cause large-scale displacements and restrict humanitarian access. Across Darfur, over 270,000 have been newly displaced so far in 2008. In September, fighting between government forces and rebel groups in North Darfur displaced tens of thousands and hindered humanitarian access. In the last two weeks, militia attacks have increased in South Darfur, displacing thousands. The World Food Programme (WFP) expects that it will not be able to reach 450,000 intended beneficiaries with food aid in September.
	Meanwhile, increasing numbers of humanitarian workers are subjected to targeted attacks. So far in 2008, 225 humanitarian vehicles have been hijacked, 170 humanitarian workers abducted, and 144 compounds attacked. The equivalent figures for September are 17, 15 and 21 respectively. Totals are already significantly above 2007 figures.
	Distribution of rainy season non-food items has been ongoing throughout Darfur. WFP and its implementing partners continue to deliver food aid to almost 3.5 million people. Our implementing partners continue to address priority needs for IDPs in all three states in Darfur across a range of sectors.

Taxis

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much was claimed in expenses for taxi travel by officials from his Department in  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2005-06,  (c) 2004-05,  (d) 2003-04 and  (e) 2002-03; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: It is not possible to disaggregate costs in respect of taxi expenses across all offices of the Department for International Development (DFID), without incurring a disproportionate cost. The figures provided include costs for contracted taxi and privately arranged hire for UK based staff costs for the years specified and are detailed:
	
		
			   
			 2006-07 243,363 
			 2005-06 328,383 
			 2004-05 243,300 
			 2003-04(1) 143,447 
			 2002-03(1) 105,908 
			 (1) Taxi costs incurred by members of staff outside the central contracts are not available in these years centrally and could not be provided without incurring a disproportionate cost.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Adoption: General Certificate of Secondary Education

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many children who were adopted aged  (a) under one,  (b) one to four,  (c) five to nine and  (d) 10 to 15 years old achieved five or more A* to C grades at GCSE in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many children who, at the time they sat GCSEs, were  (a) adopted,  (b) in foster care,  (c) in foster care with relatives or friends and  (d) in children's homes achieved five or more A* to C grades at GCSE in each of the last 10 years.

Beverley Hughes: This information is not held centrally by the Department.

Departmental NDPBs

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funding has been agreed with each of his Department's non-departmental bodies for the period 2008 to 2011.

Edward Balls: holding answer 21 October 2008
	 The funding that has been agreed with each of DCSF's non-departmental bodies for the period 2008 to 2011 is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			   million 
			  Non-departmental public body  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11  Total for CSR07 
			 The British, Educational, Telecommunications and Technology Agency (BECTA) 11 11 11 33 
			 Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) 113 122 131 366 
			 National College of School Leadership (NCSL) 98 82 82 262 
			 Office of the Children's Commissioner (OCC) 3 3 3 9 
			 Partnerships for Schools (PfS) 8 8 8 24 
			 Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) 176 110 113 399 
			 School Food Trust (SFT) 8 7 6 21 
			 Training and Development Agency (TDA) for schools 724 632 611 1,967 
			 Total budget of NDPBs 1,141 975 965 3,048

Education Maintenance Allowance

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average time taken to process a claim for the education maintenance allowance was in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: holding answer 17 October 2008
	 This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and hold information about applications made under the scheme. Mark Haysom, the LSC's Chief Executive has written to the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 21 October 2008:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Questions that asked:- what the average time taken to process a claim for tie education maintenance allowance was in the most recent period for which figures are available.
	Due to the difficulties we are currently experiencing with EMA processing, it is difficult to be precise about the average time taken to process an application. We are seeking to improve it all the time.
	Each year a substantial minority of applications are received with information missing. In these cases, they will have to be sent back to the applicant who is asked to provide the information and return it to us. We can only continue processing that application once it is sent back to us.
	In all cases where an application is initially received before the end of October and an applicant is eligible for EMA all payments will be backdated and no one will miss out for EMA that they are entitled to.

Social Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many out-of-area placements were made by each social services department in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Beverley Hughes: Information showing placements for looked after children by local authorities inside and outside their boundary can be found in table A6 (at national level) and tables LAA16 and LAA17 (at local authority level). These tables are taken from the Statistical First Release (SFR 27/2007) entitled 'Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2007'.
	The SFR is located at
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000741/index.shtml.
	Table A6 can be found within the first set of additional Excel tables and tables LAA16 and LAA17 can be found within the second set of additional tables on the website.
	Table A6 for the year ending 31 March 2008 will be released on the internet on 23 October while tables LAA16 and LAA17 are due for release mid-November.

Taxis

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was claimed in expenses for taxi travel by officials from his Department in  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2005-06,  (c) 2004-05,  (d) 2003-04 and  (e) 2002-03; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: Details of expenditure on taxi travel claimed by departmental officials for 2006-07 and 2005-06 are set out as follows:
	
		
			
			 2006-07 268,857 
			 2005-06 113,810 
		
	
	The expenditure is based on staff travel claims and approved invoices received from taxi companies paid via the Department's integrated financial information system. Expenditure on taxi travel in the three financial years prior to 2005 was recorded under a general heading of travel expenses; the Department is unable to separately identify the cost of taxi fares for these years. To extract the specific financial data requested would involve disproportionate cost.
	The Department for Children, Schools and Families was created on 28 June 2007 as a result of a machinery of government change and the expenditure recorded relates to that of its predecessor Department, the Department for Education and Skills.

Teachers: Pensions

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the implications of the deficit in the Teachers Contributory Pension Fund.

Jim Knight: The Teachers' Pension Scheme is unfunded, so when benefits fall due for payment they are met from Government revenues. There is no actual pension fund or deficit. However, in any particular year, income from contributions from employers and employees is used to offset the costs of paying benefits to pensioners.

Teaching Methods

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what role the Assessing Pupil Progress approach has in the implementation of his Department's policy on personalised learning; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Teachers themselves are best placed to decide how to personalise their teaching and to select appropriate interventions from a range of approaches and support mechanisms. The Department will publish practical guidance on personalising learning for school leaders, School Improvement Partners and teachers in November. The Assessing Pupils' Progress (APP) materials provide teachers with an effective tool to help them form robust judgments about pupils' progression through national curriculum levels and sub-levels. Teachers are able to see a pupil's relative strengths and weaknesses and it is this diagnostic potential of APP, linked to clear routes for progression through the levels, which enables teachers to personalise teaching to address pupils' strengths and weaknesses, and so support them to make the best possible progression.

INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of the apprentice matching service contract signed with  (a) CAP Gemini and  (b) S-Cool.

Si�n Simon: The National Apprenticeships Vacancy Matching Service is being developed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to provide a high quality service to employers wishing to recruit apprentices, and to young people and adults considering an apprenticeship. This service will help deliver the objective outlined in World-class Apprenticeships to expand and improve the quality of our apprenticeships programme. The LSC is contracting with Capgemini for the provision of the IT system. The LSC is separately contracting with S-Cool for apprenticeship on-line pilots in three areas, including Hampshire. Contracts for goods and services are commercially sensitive and cannot be made available to right hon. and hon. Members. I have asked Mark Haysom, chief executive of the LSC, to write to the right hon. Member, copying his reply to me, outlining the Vacancy Matching Service and Capgemini's role in supplying these services.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many  (a) non-advanced apprenticeship places and  (b) advanced apprenticeship places there were within each (i) local authority and (ii) county council administration at the latest date for which information is available.

Si�n Simon: Apprenticeships are demand-led and employer responsive; therefore the number of apprenticeship places available is determined by the number of places employers are able to offer and subject to learner demand. That is why, in terms of monitoring performance, we focus on the number of people who actually start on an apprenticeship programme.
	World-class Apprenticeships confirmed our commitment to stimulate a greater supply of apprenticeship places with employers. This is a key element of the remit of the new National Apprenticeship Service and its National Vacancy Matching Service which will help employers advertise apprenticeships vacancies and enable prospective apprentices to apply for them online.
	The latest fully audited data that we have is for the 2006/07 academic year is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries. Table 1 shows apprenticeship starts in 2006/07 by level of apprenticeship and local education authority. Table 2 shows apprenticeship starts in 2006/07 by county council type, for each different county council administration.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how long on average it took to complete applications for education maintenance allowance from application to confirmation of award in the 10 per cent. of cases which took longest to process in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
	This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the educational maintenance allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and hold information about applications made under the scheme. Mark Haysom, the LSC's chief executive has written to the right hon. Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith) with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 21 October 2008:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Questions that asked:- how long on average it took to complete applications for education maintenance allowance (EMA) from application to confirmation of award in the 10 per cent of cases which took longest to process and what the average time taken to complete applications for EMA was from receipt of application to confirmation of award in the latest period for which figures are available.
	Due to the difficulties we are currently experiencing with EMA processing. It is difficult to be precise about the average time taken to process an application. We are seeking to improve it all the time.
	Each year a substantial minority of applications are received with information missing. In these cases, they will have to be sent back to the applicant who is asked to provide the information and return it to us. We can only continue processing that application once it is sent back to us.
	In all cases where an application is initially received before the end of October and an applicant is eligible for EMA all payments will be backdated and no one will miss out for EMA that they are entitled to.

JUSTICE

Convictions

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people convicted in each of the last 10 years had never previously been convicted, broken down by police force area.

Maria Eagle: The following table shows figures taken from the Ministry of Justice's extract from the Police National Computer (PNC). It shows the number of people convicted of indictable offences in each year since 2000 who at the time of their conviction had no previous convictions recorded on the PNC. The table covers offences prosecuted by police forces in England and Wales; offences prosecuted by other authorities are not included.
	These figures have been derived from the police's administrative I.T. system, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			  Offenders with no previous convictions convicted for indictable offences by police force, 2000-07 
			  number of offenders 
			  Police Force  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset 1,401 1,270 1,207 1,260 1,159 1,265 1,231 1,283 
			 Bedfordshire 668 590 487 579 601 608 750 604 
			 Cambridgeshire 618 684 718 702 796 951 814 842 
			 Cheshire 1,327 1,166 1,027 909 789 935 1,011 999 
			 City of London 171 171 180 231 256 229 237 297 
			 Cleveland 774 662 597 735 669 609 673 729 
			 Cumbria 553 536 499 528 580 644 578 615 
			 Derbyshire 1,127 1,039 1,082 1,047 1,059 1,137 900 990 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1,282 1,287 1,395 1,304 1,351 1,314 1,166 1,159 
			 Dorset 658 642 616 629 608 610 655 666 
			 Durham 760 736 717 627 681 796 749 710 
			 Dyfed-Powys 607 526 544 551 435 504 446 468 
			 Essex 1,506 1,481 1,403 1,362 1,691 1,752 1,659 1,645 
			 Gloucestershire 535 570 435 423 433 498 487 540 
			 Greater Manchester 3,756 3,601 3,715 3,735 4,102 4,086 3,813 3,693 
			 Gwent 946 880 871 772 693 513 566 563 
			 Hampshire 1,960 1,969 1,845 1,884 1,925 1,804 1,641 1,803 
			 Hertfordshire 942 941 971 1,002 1,105 1,200 1,030 1,061 
			 Humberside 1,150 1,114 1,156 1237 1,099 925 944 978 
			 Kent 1,947 1,793 1,710 1,863 1,577 1,432 1,398 1,528 
			 Lancashire 1,713 1,659 1,648 1,492 1,329 1,320 1,541 1,974 
			 Leicestershire 1,220 1254 1,192 1,233 1,264 1,164 976 1,013 
			 Lincolnshire 542 589 555 553 628 643 583 557 
			 Merseyside 1847 1,748 1,883 1,964 1,867 1,702 1,676 1,966 
			 Metropolitan Police 1,1678 11,965 13,134 12,480 11,750 11,486 11,823 12,578 
			 Norfolk 829 785 745 773 642 693 799 782 
			 North Wales 895 748 676, 744 787 784 849 798 
			 North Yorkshire 850 743 749 786 754 912 787 820 
			 Northamptonshire 677 570 517 568 626 625 548 715 
			 Northumbria 2,115 2,102 2,021 1,903 1,742 1,618 1,650 1,572 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,605 1,523 1,337 1,324 1,230 1,283 1,166 1,129 
			 South Wales 1,925 2,062 1,957 1,804 1,738 1,539 1,266 1,280 
			 South Yorkshire 1,841 1,743 1,684 1,666 1,430 1,494 1,408 1,485 
			 Staffordshire 1,177 1,110 1,194 1,044 1,120 1,127 985 1,009 
			 Suffolk 706 646 618 782 769 751 697 625 
			 Surrey 565 634 562 565 557 579 602 715 
			 Sussex 1,309 1,365 1,325 1,282 1,359 1,339 1,499 1,620 
			 ThamesValley 1,809 1,952 1,846 1,730 1,576 2,027 2,003 1,991 
			 Warwickshire 454 392 362 343 377 390 450 405 
			 West Mercia 1,045 1,076 1,036 1,031 1,033 1,123 1,082 1,035 
			 West Midlands 4,745 5106 4,924 4,581 4,152 3,401 3,773 3,779 
			 West Yorkshire 2,777 2,454 2,463 2,496 2,649 2,340 2,115 2,162 
			 Wiltshire 690 672 542 555 517 634 600 429 
			 England and Wales 65,702 64,556 64,145 63,079 61,505 60,786 59,626 61,612

Departmental Civil Service Agencies

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many agencies were sponsored by his Department or its predecessors in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 1997-98.

Michael Wills: The 'Next Steps Report 1997' (Cm3889) provides information on all executive agencies as at 31 December 1997. Copies are available from the Library of the House. The most up-to-date list of executive agencies is published in the Cabinet Office publication 'The List of Ministerial Responsibilities'. The latest version, incorporating recent ministerial changes, will be published shortly. Copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Employment Tribunals

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure that employers act upon the decisions of employment tribunals regarding monetary awards to claimants.

Bridget Prentice: There are provisions in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 to simplify the current system for enforcing unpaid employment tribunal awards in the county court. Once implemented these provisions will allow the applicant to go straight to enforcement rather than through registration at a county court. Additionally, for the first time, the award will be registered on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines. Inclusion on this register, which is often consulted by banks, building societies and credit companies when considering applications for credit, may make it more difficult for defaulters to obtain credit and therefore provides an incentive to pay the sum due. This provision will ease the burden on the recipients of tribunal awards and it is intended to implement this provision in April 2009.

HMP Whitemoor

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether there has been a Prison Officers' Association staff vote of no confidence in the Governor of HMP Whitemoor in the last three months.

David Hanson: This is a matter for the POA and Government cannot answer on their behalf.

Taxis

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was claimed in expenses for taxi travel by officials from  (a) his Department and  (b) its executive agencies in (i) 2006-07, (ii) 2005-06, (iii) 2004-05, (iv) 2003-04 and (v) 2002-03; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is as follows.
	 Ministry of Justice HQ and Associated Offices, HM Courts Service, HM Prison Service, Tribunals Service, Office of the Public Guardian
	It is not possible to determine how much was spent on taxis in the last five years, as the expenditure is not separately identifiable within the Department's financial systems. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  National Offender Management ServiceCentre 
			   
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			 Total 63,754 72,403 
		
	
	Spend for years prior to 2005-06 could be provided only at disproportionate cost as there was a change to the financial system used within NOMS.
	
		
			  Office for Criminal Justice Reform 
			 
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			 Total 11,651 13,570 
		
	
	Spend for years prior to 2005-06 could be provided only at disproportionate cost as there was a change to the financial system used within OCJR.
	All official travel by Ministers and civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code respectively. Copies of these are available in the Library of the House.